China's technology push abroad now runs on three tracks at once: cheap electric cars, free-to-download AI models and a state battery plan that targets large-scale use of all-solid-state cells by 2030.
Bill Gates said in an NBC interview aired on 27 September that AI left unchecked could cause "a billion deaths" and that self-regulation is not enough, while European tech leaders spent the same week arguing the doomsday framing is getting in the way of actual cyber defence.
The EU AI Act's key rules for general-purpose AI models are due to land on 2 August, but calls to postpone the roll-out have grown louder from industry and at least one national leader. The European Commission says it still plans to finalise the rules in July.
The EU AI Act's rules for general-purpose AI models took effect on 2 August 2026, the same day the European Commission said it would finalise its code of practice for the most capable systems.
The EU AI Act is set to introduce its key rules for general-purpose AI models on August 2, even as tech leaders warn that regulation and a widening funding gap are holding Europe back.
China's tech ministry has told some companies it intends to approve purchases of Nvidia's new RTX Pro 5500 workstation chip, according to a report from The Information published on Sunday, 27 September.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a five-year battery plan on Monday targeting initial large-scale use of all-solid-state batteries by 2030. This followed new entry-exit rules that took effect days earlier, allowing authorities to block engineers in batteries, rare earths and AI from leaving the country.
European tech leaders and cybersecurity experts are publicly rejecting the AI extinction panic coming from the United States, arguing it distracts from the practical work of securing systems, according to a POLITICO report published on 24 September.
The EU AI Act's rules for general-purpose AI models are due to land on 2 August, and the fight around them has become a test of whether Europe can regulate AI without losing the companies that build it. European startups raised about $52bn in venture capital last year, against $209bn in the US, according to figures cited at the TNW Conference.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a five-year battery industry plan on Monday, dated 14 September. The document targets initial large-scale use of all-solid-state batteries by 2030 and calls for corporate mergers and restructuring across the sector.
The EU AI Act's obligations for general-purpose AI models took effect on 2 August 2026, but the debate inside Europe has shifted to a harder number: the region accounts for just 8% of the world's scaleups, against 60% in North America.
Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman said on 28 September that the industry should reject any AI it cannot prove it controls, while AMD denies direct sales of export-restricted radar silicon that a leading analyst says surfaced in a Chinese crowdfunding project.
Bill Gates said on Sunday that unchecked AI could "cause a billion deaths" and called for mandatory safeguards, a message that lands badly with European tech leaders who argue the panic is crowding out real cyber defence work.
China now makes 90 percent of the world's batteries, and its open-weight AI models are free to download. That combination has pushed export policy off the trade pages and into the White House, Silicon Valley boardrooms and a Brooklyn courtroom.
The EU AI Act's rules for general-purpose AI models took effect on 2 August, capping a fight over delay that drew in Sweden's prime minister and Bosch's CEO, and reviving a harder question: can Europe regulate AI and still scale it.
US chip export controls have split Washington's own tech industry: Nvidia calls them a "failure" while Anthropic wants them tighter, and Beijing is now blocking chips Washington cleared for sale.
US export controls on advanced chips to China went largely undiscussed at this week's Xi Jinping-Donald Trump summit in Washington, according to readouts from both sides that contain no direct mention of the restrictions.
China's technology exports are no longer just cheap goods. A record shipment of 5,000 EVs reached Melbourne in June 2026, and free Chinese AI models and open-source licences are pushing the White House and Silicon Valley into open argument.