When the Ukrainians have taken apart Russian arms, they have found them stuffed with American technology, primarily American.  ,
This applies to Russia’s very powerful Lancet Kamikaze , aircraft, also known as a loitering , weapons. The advanced development module called the Jetson TX2 from US chipmaker Nvidia is a crucial component of its alleged artificial intelligence ( AI ) capability, according to a report published in the journal Lancet-3.  ,  ,
Nvidia describes the Jetson TX- 2 as ,” the fastest, most energy- successful integrated AI processing system. Real AI technology is at its best with this 7 ohm computer on a module. It’s built around an NVIDIA Pascal™- home GPU and loaded with 8GB of remembrance and 59.7GB/s of recollection speed. It is simple to connect because it has a variety of common hardware interfaces across a range of products and type factors.
( GRPU stands for Graphical Processing Unit. ) The GPUs run on NVIDIA Pascal, a microarchitecture.  ,
Nvidia has previously upgraded to a much more powerful AI package, Jetson Xavier NX, which is much more effective. However, the Jetson TX- 2 remains accessible and will be until 2028, according to Nvidia.
Nvidia’s AI components are based on highly sophisticated manufacturing practices. The important AI integrated circuits is produced in Taiwan, but the whole Jetson TX-2 unit is assembled in China at BYD Huizhou, with a second supply in Taiwan at Foxconn in Taoyuan.  ,
There are a number of integrated circuits in the package, which look like this:
China and South Korea are two different countries where the other parts of the TX- 2 component are located. In addition to the Lancet collection and Iranian drones, different American and European products are available.  ,  ,
One particularly important part is the U- Blox Lea- m8s- 0- 10 GPS tracking system.  , This system can collect tracking impulses from the US GPS program, Europe’s Galileo GPS, Russia’s Glonass and China’s Beidou.  ,
Many cell phones , can also do this ( though usually not Galileo ).  , What makes the U- Blox unique, according to experts who have expertise dealing with the Lancet, is that it is both jelly and pastiche- proof, meaning it is hard to try and tear off the GPS lock guiding the weapon. U- Blox is made in Switzerland.
To be clear, neither Nvidia nor U- Blox has violated any law by selling these products. The chips are then distributed to end-users in the form of sales. From there, they wind up in Russia or China or Iran.
Washington has tried to stop China from exporting AI chips, but in reality that has resulted in companies being asked not to transfer manufacturing expertise to China or to transfer sensitive AI software.
However, there is little evidence that Washington has been able to stop the Jetson TX-2 from losing significant components.  , If strong action is n’t taken, the Russians, Chinese and Iranians will continue to be able to use the latest AI modules for military and commercial applications.  ,
The reason for this is that American AI products are largely produced overseas.  , This means that high- level cooperation is essential.  ,
It also means that the US faces significant risk should AI chip production, especially in Taiwan, be cut off either by war, blockade or simply because of a natural disaster. ( Taiwan is prone to earthquakes. )
In the US, construction on new advanced chip foundries is currently being worked on, which will be very helpful in the future. Even so, these wo n’t actually go online until they are, and Taiwan will continue to produce for US businesses because TSMC and other Taiwan businesses are highly skilled and competitive.
The Biden administration is n’t enthusiastic about leveraging US chip companies for political reasons.  , The , Chips Act, wherein the US is providing massive subsidies, is supposed to help reestablish US manufacturing.  ,
That is a positive thing on its own, but it does not address China’s growing demand for AI electronics abroad. Unfortunately, the regulatory apparatus in the United States, particularly when it comes to DEI ( diversity, equity and inclusion ), has  , hindered the rapid use of Chips Act funds.
Russia’s chip industry lacks private investment, but it does not have a DEI problem. In fact, in the bigger picture, Russia’s Achilles heel is its lack of microelectronics manufacturing infrastructure. Russia’s participation in the Western microelectronics revolution prevented this from occurring.  ,
Russia tried to develop its own electronics in remote cities like Zelenograd during the Soviet Union, or it offloaded some of the manufacturing to Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republic ( GDR), or East Germany.  ,
Like Russia, the , East Germans and others in the Warsaw , Pact , were mostly isolated from developments in the US.  ,
In the future, Washington has to find effective ways to control AI technology or face the consequences. The Bradleys and Abrams, which Russia’s Lancets have attacked in Ukraine, are a serious military issue that warrants immediate attention.  ,
Stephen Bryen served as the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s staff director and its deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.  ,
This , article , was first published on his , Weapons and Strategy , Substack and is republished with permission.