I saw a some Europeans hoping that the US would ban DeepSeek, because then there would be less traffic interfering with their own DeepSeek queries.
The US can ban all they want, but if the rest of the world starts preferring Chinese social media, Chinese AI, and Chinese websites in general, the US is going to lose one of its crown jewels.
The way the US behaves is a problem and makes a lot of people prefer alternatives just for the sake of avoiding the US, which is why it's important that the US get along with other nations, but--well, about that...
Agreed, you've highlighted one of the key problems with protectionism and nativism. Banning competition just weakens America's global influence, it doesn't make it stronger.
This statement doesn't seem to hold true. China has banned nearly all US tech companies and social products. It has not decreased the influence of China's influence (which has been through manufacturing/retail influence and tech influence).
I don't think your statement holds with current behavior.
> China has banned nearly all US tech companies and social products. It has not decreased the influence of China's influence
Being hostile does not bring you friends. Sure, various countries can have reasons to suck it up anyway (e.g. because of sanctions, or because China makes an offer too good to pass, although even that comes with strings attached). But in the long run you just create clients or satellites who will escape at the first occasion.
The American foreign policy around the middle of the 20th century relied very effectively on soft power, which is something you can leverage to get much more out of your investments than their pure monetary value. It is not required in order to gain influence, but it is a force multiplier.
Then how can you explain that China’s hostility towards Western tech companies being present inside their own country has not created what you’re describing?
Is hostility a bad idea only for America? Sure hope not.
> Is hostility a bad idea only for America? Sure hope not.
I think protectionism is long-term bad for every country, but it's especially and uniquely bad for the biggest economy in the world who has net benefitted the most from free trade and competition. There's no denying that China is influential – the argument is that they could've been (and still can be) so much more influential by embracing western tech instead of walling themselves off.
America is reliant on purchasing cheap goods from elsewhere and selling expensive technology. If it’s hostile toward the suppliers of cheap goods or the buyers of expensive technology, well, what purpose does it have on the global scale?
I am saying that they could have got much more, particularly considering the spectacular mistakes western countries kept making for the last ~2 decades.
But China has never been a global leader in tech or social media. They undoubtedly have influence in these areas, but they've never dominated them like the US has. Banning foreign competition in a field where you already dominate, like tech and AI, has different consequences than banning it where you're playing catch up.
What is your definition of "tech"? A very large amount of the electronics products in the world are made in China (specifically in/around Szhenzen and the wider Guangdong province). Both consumer goods and industrial goods. From the cheapest stuff to the most advanced and everything in between. They provide the manufacturing for brands fron all over the world, including goods "from the west".
The amount of economy that depends entirely on this low-cost, high-quality manufacturing is insanely large - both directly in electronics goods but also as part of many other industries because you need electronics to build anything else.
By "tech" I'm sort of vaguely handwaving at Silicon Valley et al. I agree that China has built up a massive manufacturing industry that the west depends on, but I don't think that "being a significant cog in the machine," so to speak, buys as much influence or bargaining power as being the maker or owner of the machine. It's better to have the Apples and Googles of the world than it is to have the SG Micros or BYD Electronics.
American consumer and industrial electronics companies are increasingly unable to deliver products without the Chinese supply chain. How does that not give significant bargaining power? Also factor in that the Chinese manufacturers also manufacturers for everyone else in the world, so they don't have to sell that capacity to USA. And that the share of production capacity that companies from America use is trending down anyways. Mostly due to Asia, Middle East and South America are still growing a lot. Then Africa is following, delayed by some decades.
Of course owning the end customer is generally better. But moving production is not something to take lightly.
I've recently cancelled my Github Copilot subscription and now use Mistral. When the US starts threatening allies with tariffs or invasion, using US services becomes a major business risk.
Not only a business risk. It also becomes a moral imperative to avoid if you can. Don't support bullies, is my motto. It can be hard to completely avoid, but it is important to try.
And the path to pleasing the EU would be straightforward: make a EU subsidiary, have it host or rent GPUs and servers in Europe, make sure personally-identifiable data is handled in accordance with GDPR and doesn't leave that subsidiary, make sure EU customers make their accounts with and are served by that subsidiary.
Meanwhile, to please the US they would probably have to move the entire company to the US. And even that may not be enough
Banning the site would be fine. The model itself will still be available from a variety of providers as well as locally. The US is more likely to ban the model itself on the basis of national security
The US can ban all they want, but if the rest of the world starts preferring Chinese social media, Chinese AI, and Chinese websites in general, the US is going to lose one of its crown jewels.
The way the US behaves is a problem and makes a lot of people prefer alternatives just for the sake of avoiding the US, which is why it's important that the US get along with other nations, but--well, about that...