Warnings that China must be cut off from advanced AI chips echo a familiar pattern. History suggests technology bans rarely slow China down – and often do the opposite.

New year, same China threat, more tech‑savvied.

The latest comes courtesy of Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, as reported by News Corp, warning that China’s access to AI chips has to be banned before it’s too late.

Selling advanced AI chips to China, Amodei tells us, is “like selling nuclear weapons to North Korea”.

You can almost hear the music swell, as if Dr Fu Manchu has just ordered the Death Star to lock onto the White House.

The only solution, according to the report, is the chips.

Chips, according to Amodei, are “the single greatest bottleneck” to powerful AI. Block them, and the threat recedes. Don’t block them, and we risk an “AI totalitarian state” and even military conquest.

On paper, the story hangs together neatly.

Chips are dangerous. China is dangerous. Therefore, chips plus China is your catastrophe combo, ready to serve to the public .

And so, the argument goes, sanctions are not just prudent policy. They are a moral obligation.

But let’s stop there.

The first problem isn’t subtle. It’s structural.

AI chips sit much closer to engines than warheads — tools that keep hospitals running, supply chains moving, forecasts improving, and research advancing. Like steel, electricity, or satellite imagery, they carry obvious civilian uses........

© Pearls and Irritations