US-China tech break-up is a race to the bottom

A messy, ongoing tech break-up between the US and China is forcing a rethink about what the industry might look like for consumers in a decoupled world.

- Catherine Thorbecke Bloomberg

On Monday, the Pentagon blacklisted internet and gaming giant Tencent Holdings for alleged links to the People's Liberation Army. On Friday, TikTok will make its final arguments to the US Supreme Court as it faces an unprecedented ban due to national security concerns.

The news greeted attendees this week at one of the industry's biggest extravaganzas in Las Vegas, where companies typically convene to lay out their dreams of a techno-utopian future filled with laundry-folding robots, flying cars, and other idealistic visions. And despite the tensions, more than 1,200 Chinese firms at the CES trade show are vying to enter the US market, the largest foreign representation and more than a quarter of the about 4,500 exhibitors.

Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang headlined opening night with an impassioned speech and a wide range of product updates. Last month, China's market regulators opened a probe into the US chipmaker amid the recent escalations. I wondered what companies might get caught in the middle next as Huang laid out his vision for a robot and autonomous vehicle-filled future – or how these machines would be built without supply chains and materials from China.