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Gavekal Technologies: New Energy
Permitting Reform’s Big Chance
AJ Cortese
10 Nov 2026
Efforts to clean up the US’s sclerotic system for approving energy infrastructure have failed twice before. The third time may be the charm, as the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act or BAAJA cleared its first procedural hurdle in the Senate on Monday. If it passes despite last-ditch opposition by environmental groups, it will massively boost America’s ability to scale up its electricity grid, on a three to-five year horizon. This will remove an important constraint on both AI data centers and manufacturing.
Gavekal Technologies: Chips
China’s AI Race, US’s AIDC Debate
Laila Khawaja, Arthur Kroeber
5 Nov 2026
Alibaba promotes token plans via livestream e-commerce. Do the US midterms spell the end of the datacenter boom? China debates the social value of “ByteDance Time”.
More research
How Wuxi AppTec Stayed Sanction-Proof
China’s two “Wuxi” biotech firms—AppTec and Biologics—are key partners for the US pharmaceutical industry, as contract developers and manufacturers of hundreds of thousands of chemical compounds. Washington lawmakers are increasingly uneasy about rising American reliance on the Wuxi firms. But their efforts to curb Wuxi’s access to the US market have been blocked, thanks to strong lobbying by the US pharma and biotech industries.
Who Is Consuming Chinese Tokens?
An unverified claim that over half of China’s domestic tokens are used for video and micro drama generation has sparked a heated online debate. Critics contrast China’s supposed use of scarce compute resources for entertainment with an alleged US focus on coding and productivity. While the data remain unconfirmed, the debate reveals the potential disconnect between Beijing’s ambitions for economy-wide AI transformation and the commercial realities of Chinese AI companies.
Power Lessons From China
The US data center boom is facing a power crunch. So far, delays and cancellations due to electricity shortages have been sporadic but by some point in 2028, they could force a significant slowdown in data center construction. It will be important for the US to figure out how to better use batteries and distributed renewables generation to make power demand and supply more flexible. China is already ahead in this effort.
Beijing Draws New Boundaries For AI Exports
Beijing’s proposed AI export controls aim to protect national security and core technologies while preserving open-source commitment and overseas commercialization. Their impact will depend heavily on implementation. The many ambiguities in the draft rules could discourage Chinese firms’ international activity and Chinese open models’ overseas adoption, at a time when American open-weight alternatives are expanding.
The State Of Chinese AI
The AI world suffered tremors last week, as doubts began to surface about the frontier labs’ revenue growth and the rising amount of high-priced debt used to finance the US’s data center building binge. The risks raise a question: when and if the American AI bubble pops, can China race ahead? Probably not.
China’s Growing Grip On Printed Circuit Boards
China accounts for nearly 60% of the global production value of printed circuit boards, foundational components in numerous defense and civil applications. AI is driving the demand for advanced PCBs and tightening the supply of various critical upstream materials.These trends could accelerate industry consolidation and strengthen China’s leading players, at a time when foreign governments are seeking to reduce dependence on Chinese PCBs.