CNBC: The U.S. Leads China by a Factor of 23 in Private Investment in AI
Private investment in artificial intelligence in the U.S. is approximately 23 times higher than investment in mainland China, according to CNBC, citing Alexander Heder, a TMT analyst at BMI, a division of Fitch Solutions. In his view, this funding gap may remain one of the most persistent structural reasons for U.S. leadership in the field of AI.
At the same time, Chinese authorities are focusing on technological self-sufficiency and supporting the industry through national programs and regional subsidies. Chinese companies are already producing AI models with similar capabilities at lower prices, but China lags behind the U.S. in the field of advanced chips required to run such models.
Clifford Kurz, a director at S&P Global Ratings, stated that Huawei offers about one-eighth of Nvidia’s computing power. According to him, most of Nvidia’s computing power is available outside of China, and one of Huawei’s most advanced chips, the Ascend 950, provides about 13% of the computing power of a single Nvidia GB300. Huawei partially makes up for this gap by integrating a larger number of chips into its systems.
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Kurz also noted that Huawei is expected to produce 1.35 million advanced AI chips in 2026. This is significantly less than even Nvidia’s most conservative estimate of 6 million chips. Nvidia, for its part, has secured support from Wall Street to finance AI development to the tune of $500 billion.
In June, China unveiled a three-year infrastructure development plan for faster computing. Last month, the country stated that the expansion of computing infrastructure is expected to attract 4 trillion yuan in capital by 2030. Zhu He, a senior researcher at the Beijing-based CF40 think tank, said that leading Chinese companies primarily finance AI projects through equity financing and internal funds, with no significant plans for large-scale debt issuance.
China is also attracting AI specialists and has low electricity costs, which could strengthen its competitive position. At the same time, according to experts, the commercialization of technologies remains a key challenge for both countries: the U.S. is investing heavily in the development of the most powerful models, while China is focusing on integrating AI into various industries.
