China's AI Semiconductor Ecosystem: An Executive Visit Guide
Evaluate AI compute suppliers in China through workload compatibility, software support, memory limits, supply continuity and deployment economics.
An AI semiconductor comparison needs a workload and a software environment. A chip benchmark alone does not reveal the effort needed to migrate a model, maintain dependencies or operate a fleet. Ask suppliers to demonstrate the models and tools your team would actually use, with licensing and support assumptions stated.
What to evaluate
Workload fit
Connect accelerators, memory, networking and software to representative training and inference workloads.
Supply chain
Map design, fabrication, packaging, boards, systems, distribution and service dependencies.
Software layer
Test toolchains, model support, portability, optimisation and developer capacity.
Economics
Compare utilisation, energy, reliability, migration effort and total operating cost.
Worked evaluation exercise
The following is an illustrative assessment exercise, not a reported customer result.
For a model-serving comparison, keep model version, precision, batch size and response requirements consistent. Record any code changes, unsupported operators and engineering work needed to make the test run. Add that migration effort to hardware, energy and support costs. Ask procurement and legal teams to verify supply and trade constraints separately; a successful technical demonstration does not establish that a purchase or cross-border deployment is permissible.
Questions for the operating team
- Which workloads define the architecture?
- Where does software portability break?
- Which dependency creates the longest recovery time?
Warning signs
- Peak benchmark scores without workload context.
- Supply resilience inferred from one supplier.
- Unit price presented without utilisation.
Planning the visit
Use these questions to scope an industry-focused China AI program. Agree which records and operating workflows can be examined before confirming meetings; host participation and access require confirmation. Our research method explains how we structure the brief and follow-up.
References and scope
These references provide policy or risk-management context. They do not independently verify a host's performance or the illustrative exercise above.