Nomura's Lu Ting Says AI Fails to Lift China Economy as Chip Bottlenecks Block Investment
Updated
Updated · South China Morning Post · Jun 12
Nomura's Lu Ting Says AI Fails to Lift China Economy as Chip Bottlenecks Block Investment
2 articles · Updated · South China Morning Post · Jun 12
Summary
Lu Ting said AI is not giving China the same economic lift it has provided the US, even as China struggles to offset a prolonged property crisis.
US AI investment has grown at roughly four times the pace of consumer spending, he said, reflecting deeper capital markets that let firms such as OpenAI raise money more easily.
China faces a different constraint: even if companies want to buy chips in bulk and invest more aggressively, export curbs mean key suppliers "simply won't sell" to them, Lu said.
That leaves AI less able to act as a near-term growth engine for China or to compensate for weakness in real estate, while also raising concern about potential side effects.