[duccinator]

China might not be as successful as the west(yet) but they have their own ecosystem and have alternatives for most tech products.

All the tech companies in China are practically under the control of the party. China also has a billion+ people, even the market is smaller than the west, I think they will manage.

Not to mention the difference in privacy laws and a higher number of stem grads to throw at the problem.

[TheRealPomax]

So we agree: that was my point. China is not a competitor for western markets, meaning the argument that "If we don't do it, China will" is fucking ridiculous, as China doesn't have access to the data necessary to make things that WORK for the western market.

[duccinator]

A lot of western data is public, people in China aren't aliens compared to those in the west, there are only small cultural differences so chinese data in itself is usable for many western requirements.

Combine the public western data and private chinese data, and it should be enough for them to give the west a run for its money if they decide to slow/stop. Not to mention that chinese apps like tiktok are used very widely in the west, and coorps like Tencent have a tentacle wrapped around hundreds of western coorps.