The idea that China wasn’t working hard to build their own chips is a political talking point period. Nothing has been sped up here, China was always going to do this and the backlash you see from people who are against it is only proof that restrictions do hurt them
I do believe your first sentence, but the second one ... doesn't really follow.
The unnatural and sudden nature of the US chip embargo has galvanized the Chinese companies to speed up development. It makes economic sense to do so rather than pay inflated rates to essentially smuggle a necessary good, while never knowing if the embargo will be tightened and those under-the-table supply chains dry up as well.
Yes, there was a plan, but what was planned for 5 years from now is being done today, because if you wait 5 years, you'll be so far behind thanks to the effect of the embargo.
The AI revolution has led to everyone including US companies working to build their own GPUs there is zero proof or reason to think embargo’s are the cause. As I said, China was already working to build their own capacity
> The idea that China wasn’t working hard to build their own chips is a political talking point period.
never heard of this 'talking point' . who is even saying this?
It's an implied corollary: when folks say that "blocking US Chips is what led China to build it's own" they are implying it is US export restrictions that pushed China to innovate. OP is saying this isn't necessarily true. I don't think it is either: China seems to have succeeded due to a centrally planned economy that values independence, with high amounts of strategic government led technology investment.
It can be both. They were already doing it and the situation made it more urgent.
> OP is saying this isn't necessarily true.
but your supposed corollary was
> China wasn’t working hard to build their own chips
kind of dishonest ?