May 10, 2025· 39 min

Why the World Keeps Getting Shocked by China's Technological Progress

Kaiser Kuo

Orality

Model

91%

Highly oral (epic poetry, sermons, hip-hop)

Speaker Breakdown

HostTracy Alloway(1,757 words)

M:28%

HostJoe Weisenthal(1,171 words)

M:29%

GuestKaiser Kuo(4,244 words)

M:28%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic36%

obviously, totally, very

Engagement77%

you, our, your

Memory Aids100%

listen, so, like

Repetition100%

like (75x), it's (70x), think (65x)

Parallelism67%

So have you heard the story ab..., And I'm Tracy Alloway...., But, actually, how the process...

Sound Patterns85%

68 question(s), alliteration: "markets move", alliteration: "barclays brief"

Formulaic Phrases7%

you know what, i mean, the thing is

Literate Indicators

Hedging8%

perhaps, quite, maybe

Passive Voice5%

been published, being wasted, be learned

Abstract Nouns21%

investment, prescription, medication

Subordination6%

though, since, because

Sentence Length28%

Avg: 12.0 words/sentence

Word Complexity46%

investment, analyze, anticipate

Academic Markers0%

Impersonal Style23%

620 personal pronouns found

Descriptive Style97%

automatically, family, obviously

Description

Over the last several years, the world has watched as China edges close to or past the technological frontier in more and more areas. Earlier this year, US investors were jolted even further when DeepSeek's AI model proved to be close to the state of the art American models. So what is the process by which China actually develops new tech? Why has it worked out so well? And how do priorities set by President Xi Jinping actually get transmitted to researchers and businesses? On this episode, we speak to Kaiser Kuo, the host of the Sinica podcast. He discusses the cultural dimension of tariffs, and what he sees as a fundamentally different attitude towards the benefits of technological progress in China vs. what is seen in the US. Read more: I’m a DeepSeek AI Bro Now Only Bloomberg.com subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox — now delivered every weekday — plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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