When AI chips can be rented through overseas cloud providers, controlling where the hardware goes may not be enough. Ryan Fedasiuk, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, joins Prakash Narayanan and Rohit Krishnan to discuss his research on Chinese military dependence on U.S.-designed AI chips, his allegations about Nvidia’s response to his warnings, and where export-control rules might apply to remote computing.
The discussion also considers proposed Commerce Department licensing powers, why allegations warrant investigation rather than assumption, and whether chip makers need clearer rules. The hosts then turn to Anthropic’s possible IPO valuation, AI infrastructure investment, and the open question of whether today’s models can make real businesses profitable.
Show Notes
Ryan Fedasiuk, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, discusses his research into Chinese military reliance on U.S.-designed AI chips and alleges Nvidia tried to get him fired after he raised concerns about customers. The conversation examines export-control rules, overseas GPU rentals, remote-computing oversight, and the need for an investigation; the hosts also consider Anthropic’s potential IPO valuation, AI infrastructure spending, and whether AI models can run profitable businesses.
Chapters
(0:00) Nvidia warnings and cloud rentals
(2:10) Anthropic’s IPO gets a mid-tier SaaS multiple
(2:48) Where does the capital for AI come from?
(3:45) Meet Ryan Fedasiuk of FAI
(5:13) Nvidia wants China dependent on American chips
(7:01) Fedasiuk says Nvidia retaliated against his warnings
(8:01) What knowledge would make Nvidia’s sales illegal?
(9:33) Why Megaspeed can remain off the Entity List
(10:33) Cloud rentals weaken America’s physical chip controls
(13:11) Chinese labs can train without importing chips
(15:31) Commerce could license overseas AI computing services
(16:56) Nvidia needs clear rules, not informal disapproval
(19:14) Should Nvidia defend an investigated customer?
(20:59) Nvidia’s conduct still needs an investigation
(23:09) AI chips should not face bank-style KYC rules
(25:00) Is AI a bubble? Watch Anthropic’s SpaceX cutoff
(25:49) Anthropic could hit $300 billion amid ghost data centers
(27:38) Has AI actually grown the economic pie yet?
(28:57) AI still has no drop-in software engineer
(29:53) Is Anthropic’s IPO a shield against nationalization?
(30:57) AI models still lose money running real businesses
Guests:
Ryan Fedasiuk — Senior Fellow, Foundation for American Innovation (𝕏 | LinkedIn)
