Conversations exploring China, technology, and US-China relations. Guests include a wide range of analysts, policymakers, and academics. Hosted by Jordan Schnei...
How do patents influence emerging technology innovation? How far could AI and DOGE push our current IP regime? Does it matter that China issues way more patents than the US does?
To discuss, ChinaTalk interviewed Andrei Iancu, who served as the director of the US Patent Office under the first Trump administration. Andrei has degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering, and worked at the legendary Hughes Aircraft Company before going to law school. He is currently in private practice at Sullivan and Cromwell.
Co-hosting today is ChinaTalk editor and second year law student at Duke, Nicholas Welch.
We get into…
The mounting evidence that China's patent system now dominates America’s, and whether these indicators constitute an emergency in the innovation ecosystem,
Why some US companies now prefer Chinese courts for patent enforcement,
The fundamental tension between private rights of inventors and public access to innovations,
What congressional inaction on patent eligibility means for AI innovation, and the bills that congress could pass to immediately jumpstart emerging tech investment,
What the current administration could do to help USPTO juice the economy,
Controversy surrounding the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and whether DOGE could put PTAB on the chopping block,
How Trump will approach patent law and intellectual property rights, including perspectives on appointments and potential reforms.
Thanks to CSIS for partnering with us to bring you this episode, the first in a three-episode CSIS Chip Chat series.
Outtro Music: Lil Green, I'm Going to Copyright Your Kisses (1941) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ye39JuJZ4k&ab_channel=LilGreen-Topic
Nellie Hill, I'm Gunna Copyright Your Kisses (1951) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3OcMdxpWas&ab_channel=krobigraubart
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1:08:38
China's Great Power Wars: Lessons from Imperial History for Today
How has Chinese hegemony shaped power relations in East Asia? Why did imperial China conquer Tibet and Xinjiang but not Vietnam or Korea? Can learning from history help maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait?
Today’s interview begins with one shocking truth — while medieval Europe suffered under near-constant war, East Asia’s Middle Ages were defined by great power peace.
To discuss, ChinaTalk interviewed Professor David C. Kang, director of the Korean Studies Institute at USC and co-author of Beyond Power Transitions: The Lessons of East Asian History and the Future of U.S.-China Relations.
We discuss…
How East Asian nations managed to peacefully coexist for centuries,
Why lessons from European history don’t always apply in non-European contexts,
Why wars begin and how they can be avoided,
How to interpret outbreaks of violence in Asia — including conflicts with the Mongols, China’s meddling in Vietnam, and Japan’s early attempts at empire,
State behaviors that cannot be explained by power transition theory alone,
Whether the Thucydides trap makes U.S.-China war inevitable,
Old school methods for managing cross-strait relations.
Co-hosting today is Ilari Mäkelä of the On Humans podcast.
Outro music: 荒城の月 "The Moon over the Ruined Castle" by 滝廉太郎 Rentarō Taki (Youtube link)
Cover photo of a Song Dynasty axe-wielding god https://dragonsarmory.blogspot.com/2016/12/song-chinese-armor-in-religious.html
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1:29:26
SemiAnalysis + Asianometry on the AI Mandate of Heaven
Dylan Patel and Doug O'Laughlin (SemiAnalysis), Jon from Asianometry and I have way too much fun talking hyperscaler capex, the AI mandate of heaven tier list, and Tim Cook succession plans.
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36:28
Anthropic's Dario Amodei on AI Competition
Dario Amodei is the CEO of Anthropic. In today’s interview, we discuss…
Whether an AI innovation race is inevitable between the US and China,
How the US should update export controls in light of DeepSeek’s R1 release,
DeepSeek’s willingness to generate information about bioweapons,
Technical defenses against model distillation and AI espionage,
How advanced AI could eventually impact democracy,
Whether there is tension between export controls and the belief that AI will broadly increase human flourishing.
Dario's blogposts:
Machines of Loving Grace: https://darioamodei.com/machines-of-loving-grace
On DeepSeek and Export Controls: https://darioamodei.com/on-deepseek-and-export-controls
Outro Music: Lykke Li, I Follow Rivers (Magician Remix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS6wfWu0JvA&ab_channel=LykkeLi
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44:18
DeepSeek: What It Means and What Happens Next
Kevin Xu of Interconnected and Interconnected Capital and I knock it out of the park with a roundup episode exploring:
What DeepSeek does and doesn't illustrate about Chinese innovation
Tensions between open-source cosmopolitanism and nationalism built into DeepSeek and the broader Chinese tech community
DeepSeek's organizational and talent management strategy, parallels to OpenAI, and what the fame will mean for the firm and Chinese AI policy
What DeepSeek should and may mean for the future of export controls and broader US innovation policy
The JS Tan article referenced: https://www.chinatalk.media/p/deepseeks-secret-to-success
Dario's first article on our happy AI future: https://darioamodei.com/machines-of-loving-grace
Dario's second article on why America needs to export control China: https://darioamodei.com/on-deepseek-and-export-controls
Outtro Music: Dizkar, 愛縂時刻盛開 https://open.spotify.com/track/1rXneAS9Djts7fwRGHUeG5?si=b2b29714802948de
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Conversations exploring China, technology, and US-China relations. Guests include a wide range of analysts, policymakers, and academics. Hosted by Jordan Schneider.
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