High Capacity

China’s robots can dance and run marathons—but can they do useful work? And can China make the core components like actuators, reducers, and chips?

In this episode of the High Capacity podcast, I talk with Sunny Cheung, a fellow in China Studies at the Jamestown Foundation, about China’s push into humanoid robots and physical AI. We explore how China is turning its EV supply chains into a robotics ecosystem, how state-owned enterprises create demand for robots, and where China still depends on foreign technology. We also discuss what the US and its allies can do to compete.

We discuss:
• How much progress has China made beyond dancing robots and impressive demonstrations?
• Why are Chinese EV companies moving into humanoid robotics?
• How do state-owned enterprises help robotics companies scale production and gather training data?
• Which components can China produce domestically—and where does it still rely on Japan, Germany, and the US?
• Can world models and simulation provide enough data to train useful robots?
• Could general-purpose AI models like Fable or Astra end up powering the next generation of robotics?
• How can the US and its allies build competitive robotics supply chains?

Links:
Sunny Cheung at the Jamestown Foundation: https://jamestown.org/analyst/sunny-cheung/

DSET report: “The Age of Robotics: China-West Competition and Taiwan’s Indispensable Role in the Non-Red Supply Chain”
https://dset.tw/en/research/000500-1/

Wilson Center: “The Deployment Gap: Why America Risks Losing the Robotics Race”
https://acrosskarman.wilsoncenter.org/article/deployment-gap-why-america-risks-losing-robotics-race

Jamestown Foundation: Embodied Intelligence: The PRC’s Whole-of-Nation Push into Robotics
https://jamestown.org/embodied-intelligence-the-prcs-whole-of-nation-push-into-robotics/

Sunny Cheung on Twitter / X:
https://x.com/sunnycheungky

Sunny Cheung on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnycheungcky/

For episode transcripts and more, check out the High Capacity newsletter:
https://www.highcapacity.org/

Kyle Chan on Twitter / X:
https://x.com/kyleichan

Can the US and China agree to slow down AI development—or even agree on what counts as an AI risk?

In this episode of the High Capacity podcast, I talk with Kendra Schaefer, partner and head of tech policy research at Trivium China, about China’s approach to AI safety. We discuss AI service registration, the regulatory gaps around open-weight releases and AI agents, and why Chinese policymakers may see some risks differently from their US counterparts. We also explore where US-China cooperation on AI safety might begin.

Topics covered:
Why China does not necessarily see regulation as a slowdown

Anthropic’s calls to slow frontier AI development

China’s AI service registration and safety testing process

The challenge of regulating open-weight model releases

AI agents, incident reporting, liability, and traceability

How China assesses technical, social, and geopolitical AI risks

What the US and China could discuss in an AI safety dialogue

Follow Kendra Schaefer and explore Trivium Tech. You can also sign up for Trivium’s free daily brief.

For episode transcripts and more, check out the High Capacity newsletter.

Is the U.S.–China AI competition really a winner-take-all race to AGI? Why has China embraced open-source AI? And are the biggest frontier models actually the greatest security threat?
In this episode, I speak with Alvin Wang Graylin, a Digital Fellow at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, a Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, a professor of AI and technology policy at the University of Washington, and co-author of Our Next Reality.
We discuss:
• China’s AI strategy and its focus on spreading AI throughout the economy
• Why the “decisive strategic advantage” theory may misread the U.S.–China AI relationship
• The prisoner’s dilemma, the stag hunt, and the case for cooperation on AI safety
• China’s open-source AI ecosystem and the debate over open versus closed models
• Why small, specialized AI systems may pose greater security risks than frontier models
• How export controls may be accelerating Chinese AI innovation
• China’s push into robotics, manufacturing, and physical AI
• How China’s technology industry has changed over the past three decades
Read Alvin’s essays, “Misdiagnosing the U.S.–China AI Race” and “The Biggest AI Models Are Not the Biggest Threats.”
You can also follow Alvin on X and LinkedIn, or read his Substack, The Abundanist.
For transcripts and more information, visit the High Capacity newsletter.
Follow host Kyle Chan on X.

How do users in China get access to Claude and ChatGPT through the gray market? What’s really driving China’s apparent “AI optimism”? How is China trying to deal with deepfakes and AI-generated content?

In this episode, I speak with Zilan Qian, a researcher at the Oxford China Policy Lab about the hidden side of China’s AI boom, including:
How Chinese users use “transfer stations” to access American AI models like Claude and ChatGPT
Why Chinese users still want to use Claude and ChatGPT even though there are strong Chinese mode
Why China’s apparent AI optimism is really driven by anxiety about falling behind
China’s push to label AI-generated content—and the problems with watermarks, detection, and false positives

Links:
Zilan’s Oxford page
Zilan on Substack and Twitter / X
How to Buy Cheap Claude Tokens in China
China’s AI optimism isn’t what it seems
Labelling AI-Generated Content in China

How did China build a world-leading EV industry? China didn't just pick winners. Local governments and private entrepreneurs played a critical role alongside a broader national push into batteries and electric vehicle technology.

In this episode, I talk with Fengming Lu, an assistant professor at Australian National University, about China's decades-long effort to build a world-class auto industry, its pivot to EVs, and what lessons other countries might learn.

We discuss:
• How Chinese local governments act like VC investors
• What China learned from foreign automakers like GM, Volkswagen
• The rise of upstarts like Geely, Chery, and BYD
• What caused a wave of Chinese EV startups like NIO, Xpeng, Li Auto
• The "Hefei model"

Links:
• The Rise of China’s Electric Vehicle Industry: Strategic Alliances Between Local Governments and Private Capital
• Fengming's personal website
• Fengming on Twitter / X

For transcripts and more information, check out the High Capacity newsletter.

Follow host Kyle Chan on Twitter / X