A podcast about China, technology, and geopolitics. In-depth conversations with experts on AI, robotics, EVs, clean tech, biotech, etc. Hosted by Kyle Chan, Fellow at Brookings and author of the High Capacity newsletter.
Does China Want an AI Slowdown? How China Sees AI Risks and How They're Trying to Regulate AI
Host [Host Name] interviews Kendra Schaefer, partner and head of tech policy research at Trivium China, exploring China's unique perspective on AI risks and its regulatory approach to AI development.
13 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
Are the US and China in an AI Race? AGI vs. Diffusion, AI Risk, Bad Actors, the Case for Cooperation
Host Kyle Chan interviews Alvin Wang Graylin, a Digital Fellow at Stanford, about the nuances of the US-China AI race, exploring cooperation versus competition and the real security risks.
16 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT
China's Hidden AI Economy
Host Zilan Qian, a researcher at the Oxford China Policy Lab, explores China's hidden AI economy, revealing how users access foreign models and the anxieties driving AI adoption in this interview.
24 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT
The Real Story Behind China's EV Rise
Host Kyle Chan interviews Fengming Lu, assistant professor at Australian National University, exploring China's strategic government and private sector collaboration fueling its EV industry dominance.
3 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT
What Explains China's Biotech Rise? Genomics, Data, and the Global Biotech Ecosystem
Host Kyle Chan interviews Abigail Coplin of Vassar College to explore China's rapid biotech ascent through genomics, data, and strategic innovation.
16 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT
Mythos, China, and a New Era of AI Regulation
Host Kyle Chan interviews open-source AI expert Nathan Lambert about Anthropic's AI safety controversies and their implications for global AI regulation and Chinese AI labs.
29 May 2026TRANSCRIPT
Is China Getting Worried About AI?
Host Kyle Chan interviews Matt Sheehan, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, exploring China's evolving concerns about AI's impact on jobs, stability, and control.
22 May 2026TRANSCRIPT
How China is Rewriting the Rules of AI Healthcare with Dr. Ruby Wang
Host Kyle Chan interviews physician and healthcare strategist Dr. Ruby Wang about China's rapid advancements in AI healthcare and its global impact.
12 May 2026TRANSCRIPT
Is China Building the Next NVIDIA? China's Semiconductor Industrial Policy with Paul Triolo
Host Kyle Chan interviews industry expert Paul Triolo about China's ambitious semiconductor industrial policy and its race for self-reliance in chip manufacturing.
28 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT
China and AI Supply Chains with TP Huang
Host Kyle Chan interviews TP Huang about China's AI supply chain, exploring energy infrastructure, robotics, and the integration of domestic AI chips.
7 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT
Z.ai: Inside a Top Chinese AI Lab
Host interviews Zixuan Li, Director of Product for genAI strategy at Z.ai, exploring their newest AI model, agentic AI challenges, and global strategy.
1 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT
China's Tech Strengths & Weaknesses
Rui Ma, founder of Tech Buzz China, explains the real sources of China's tech strengths and where the US still has the advantage. From industrial parks to capital markets, we talk about how to understand China's tech landscape at a deeper level -- and why so many people are eager to tour Chinese factories.Links:
Tech Buzz China (https://www.techbuzzchina.com/)
Tech Buzz China newsletter (https://techbuzzchina.substack.com/)
Rui Ma on X / Twitter (https://x.com/ruima)
For transcripts and more, check out the High Capacity newsletter (https://www.highcapacity.org/)
19 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT
China's New AI Wave: Agents, Open Source, OpenClaw and More with Tom Wang at Hugging Face
Hugging Face's Tom Wang discusses China's AI advancements, open-source models, AI agents, and OpenClaw in this interview.
10 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT
How China is Riding the Open Source Wave
Host Kevin Xu, former head of global expansion strategy at GitHub, explores China's open-source evolution and its central role in the nation's AI strategy.
26 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT
Are There Tech Bros in China? China's Tech Culture with Afra Wang
Afra Wang discusses China's unique tech culture, exploring the inspirations and relationships between tech founders, government, and sci-fi, in an interview on Chinese innovation.
12 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT
China's Robotaxis and Autonomous Driving
A deep dive into China's robotaxi and autonomous driving industry. What are the big trends? Who are the major players? LiDAR vs. camera-only? How good are Chinese robotaxis? Where are they going next? I'm joined by China EV and AV expert Lei Xing in this episode of the High Capacity podcast.
00:00 Intro to Lei Xing
01:06 Smart driving vs. autonomous driving
06:37 Chinese government policy for autonomous vehicles
13:44 What's it like to ride a Chinese robotaxi?
19:29 China's different robotaxi strategies
29:30 Huawei as a major player
35:11 AI and autonomous driving in China
41:25 Semiconductor chips and smart driving
47:21 Shifting geopolitical landscape
53:40 Commercial trucking and delivery robots
Follow Lei Xing:
Twitter / X (https://x.com/leixing77)
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lei77/)
YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/leixing77)
China EVs & More podcast (https://www.youtube.com/@ChinaEVsandMore)
For transcripts and more episodes, check out the High Capacity newsletter (https://www.high-capacity.com/).
29 Jan 2026TRANSCRIPT
China's AI ecosystem with Grace Shao
China's top AI players like Alibaba, ByteDance, and Moonshot are pursuing different strategies. China AI expert Grace Shao joins me on the High Capacity podcast to talk about the most important trends in China's AI landscape: agentic AI, ecosystem integration, raising capital, and navigating geopolitics.00:00 Intro to Grace Shao03:51 Agentic AI in China17:42 The popularity of ByteDance's Doubao app23:11 China's AI tigers28:42 Shifts in China's AI strategy34:32 Meta's acquisition of Manus40:43 Singapore as a geopolitical gateway for AI50:12 Future trends in China's AI industry
Links:
AI Proem newsletter (https://aiproem.substack.com/)
Differentiated Understanding podcast (https://aiproem.substack.com/podcast)
High Capacity newsletter (https://www.high-capacity.com/)
15 Jan 2026TRANSCRIPT
China's EV Boom with Tu Le
Chinese EVs are transforming the global auto industry. Tu Le, founder and Managing Director of Sino Auto Insights, joins me on the High Capacity podcast to talk about what's happening with Chinese EVs: technology and features, global expansion, new approaches to manufacturing, hybrids, and robotaxis.00:00 Introduction to Tu Le00:56 Cool Technology in Chinese EVs05:16 Chinese EVs at CES in Las Vegas07:18 Geely's Ambitious Plans for the US Market09:50 Who are the Major Chinese EV Players?17:07 Are EVs like Consumer Electronics?25:16 Manufacturing Changes in the Auto Industry29:05 Overcapacity and Chinese EVs31:43 Overcapacity and Global Implications37:33 Partnering with Chinese EV Makers44:12 The Future of Hybrids and the EV Transition50:18 The Rise of Robotaxis and Autonomous Driving
Links:
Sino Auto Insights (https://www.sinoautoinsights.com/)
SAI Newsletter (https://sinoautoinsights.substack.com/)
China EVs & More podcast (https://www.youtube.com/@ChinaEVsandMore)
At the Wheel podcast (https://www.youtube.com/@AtTheWheel313)
Subscribe to the High Capacity podcast on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@highcapacitypodcast), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/6kafwx4gzmxeZsUfLFv42u), or Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/high-capacity/id1864408706).
Read the High Capacity newsletter (https://www.high-capacity.com/)
Follow Kyle Chan on Twitter / X (https://x.com/kyleichan)
26 Dec 2025TRANSCRIPT
China’s Robotics and Industrial Automation with Georg Stieler
In this episode, I speak with Georg Stieler (https://www.stm-stieler.de/people/georg-stieler), Asia Managing Director and Head of Robotics and Automation at Stieler (https://www.stm-stieler.de/), a global technology consulting firm. He’s a leading expert on robotics in China with over a decade of experience based in Shanghai.
Key takeaways:
Know-how for robotics applications is now flowing from China to the West. Previously, Western and Japanese firms brought automation expertise to China. But now this flow of knowledge has flipped, especially EVs and batteries.
China’s robotics market is also flipping. Made in China 2025 was a huge market opportunity for foreign robotics firms. But now they’re being challenged by Chinese players who are moving into global markets.
Chinese robotics firms won in newer and simpler segments first like “cobots” (collaborative robots) and mobile robots, then moved up the industry ladder. The pandemic gave Chinese firms an opportunity to gain market share.
The EV and electronics industries caused a step-change in the pace of production. Chinese manufacturers have accelerated development cycles, driving an acceleration in the global auto industry.
Humanoid robots are part of China’s push into “physical AI.” China has an edge in robotics supply chains. A crucial factor will be the development of vision-language-action (VLA) models that power the “brains” of robots.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Georg Stieler
00:43 Background working on robotics in China
04:52 Changes in China's robotics and industrial automation
09:08 The shift to EVs and industrial robotics
14:49 Which areas of robotics is China making progress in?
17:34 How the pandemic changed China's industrial robotics
21:15 Key players in China's industrial automation industry
27:18 The rise of China's humanoid robots
35:39 VLA models and training data
38:46 China's robotics supply chains: brain vs. body
43:17 Geopolitics and robotics supply chains
45:25 Future trends in Chinese robotics and industrial automation
49:19 The importance of systems integrators
53:57 Learn more about Georg Stieler's work
Follow Georg Stieler on Twitter / X (https://x.com/GeorgStieler) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgstieler/)
Georg Stieler’s recent publications:
The Robot Report: China experiences physical AI surge — and how the U.S. should respond (https://www.therobotreport.com/china-experiences-physical-ai-surge-how-u-s-should-respond/)
The Robot Report: iREX 2025: From programmed to perceptive (https://www.therobotreport.com/irex-2025-from-programmed-perceptive/)
The Robot Report: CIIF 2024 shows major robotics trends in China (https://www.therobotreport.com/ciif-2024-shows-major-robotics-trends-in-china/)
Subscribe to the High Capacity podcast on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@HighCapacityPodcast), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/6kafwx4gzmxeZsUfLFv42u?si=a46d366984964db5), or Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/high-capacity/id1864408706).
Read the High Capacity newsletter (https://www.high-capacity.com/)
Follow Kyle Chan on Twitter / X (https://x.com/kyleichan)
Inside a recent episode
Does China Want an AI Slowdown? How China Sees AI Risks and How They're Trying to Regulate AI
Published 2 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Is it the model maker? Is it the person who directed the model to do that? Is it the, you know, where does that kind of cut happen? And what's interesting, of course, is China struggled with the same issue with autonomous vehicles. So I imagine that we're probably going to see something quite similar to some of the breakdowns around, you know, some of the conversations that we're having around autonomous cars, you know, where the question right now for the autonomous vehicles is, when a car is at L2, in other words, a human is still, you know, it's not very autonomous and a human is mostly in control of it. […]
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