Richard Turrin

🇨🇳 China won't use #digitalyuan to bypass sanctions and bail out Russia, says Turrin West 10 years behind China on #CBDC. De-dollarization is unstoppable. Interview on @AsiaSquawkbox Cashless my 5⭐ bestseller on China's #CBDC amzn.to/3jcCVu5 cnbc.com/video/2022/03/…

You have to give China credit for experimenting with data centers in space and now underwater. China says 'world's first' offshore wind-powered underwater data center has entered full operation, houses 2,000 servers — 24 megawatt subsea AI facility uses ocean water for passive cooling and offshore wind for power #China #techwar #chips #tech @baoshaoshan @thecyrusjanssen @DOualaalou @lajohnstondr @PSTAsiatech buff.ly/RBHtZwk

Standard Chartered to cut thousands of roles as AI use increases So remember all the talk about human-AI partnership and copilots? Tell the more than 15%, or around 7,800, of StanChart back-office roles that will be let go by 2030 that they should happily copilot with AI. It turns out banks aren't as keen on copiloting as consultants suggest. Is anyone surprised that banks are simply letting go of as many people as AI will allow? #fintech #tech #finserv #AI @BetaMoroney @efipm @BrettKing @spirosmargaris @jasuja @enricomolinari @mikeflache buff.ly/Xz0mHtn

Even in China an AI backlash where human craft and the lack of AI is now a major selling point. Handmade: Two Chinese Productions Go Viral for Skipping AI The productions, made by two amateur teams using their own savings, have garnered hundreds of millions of views on domestic video platforms. #China #techwar #chips #tech @baoshaoshan @thecyrusjanssen @DOualaalou @lajohnstondr @PSTAsiatech buff.ly/Kwn7JWu

China didn't steal global trade dominance. The US handed it over. What happened between 2000 and 2025 was not a military victory or a political coup but the symptom of decline. It was WTO membership, manufacturing scale, commodity demand, and infrastructure investment — compounding quietly across two and a half decades. All the while, the US divided itself, fought foreign wars, became unwelcoming to immigrants, invested little at home, and frittered its lead away. It now feigns surprise at China's rise, crying overproduction while ignoring its own underproduction, all the while engaging in yet another war. Key Takeaways: ↳ In 2000, only 33 countries traded more with China than the US ↳ By 2025, China became the top goods trading partner for most countries worldwide ↳ Only two African countries still trade more with the US than China #China #techwar #chips #tech @baoshaoshan @thecyrusjanssen @DOualaalou @lajohnstondr @PSTAsiatech buff.ly/nyLtzKy

If Gold is the new reserve currency why isn't it performing better? ING with an answer: Why gold isn’t acting like a safe haven right now buff.ly/c3Fphxi

But recognize that this is the US shooting itself in the foot with overzealous use of sanctions: ‘Different from anything in the past 80 years of dollar dominance’: U.S. sanctions spur a ‘paradox’ pushing allies away from American currency Don't forget what Eichengreen said in the article above: Gold held locally cannot be sanctioned. buff.ly/eQLqT4f

🧵#DEDOLLARIZATION DAILY: History is back, it brought gold, and the dollar is losing. The dollar isn't losing reserve dominance to the euro, yuan, or yen. It's losing to a metal. Deutsche Bank's research is unambiguous: ↳ Dollar share of global central bank reserves: dropped from 60% to 40% ↳ Gold share: tripled from its lows to nearly 30% — a gap of just 10 percentage points ↳ Every single central bank gold purchase in recent years has occurred in emerging markets ↳ If EM central banks target 40% gold allocation, gold could reach $8,000 per ounce within five years The dollar's losses did not go to another currency. They went to an asset that cannot be frozen, sanctioned, or weaponized by a foreign government. That is not a coincidence. That is a policy decision being made simultaneously across dozens of central banks. 👉 The return of history: gold, the dollar, and the monetary future - Deutsche Bank Research Institute #fintech #finserv #multipolarism @efipm @baoshaoshan @thecyrusjanssen @lajohnstondr @Kathleen_Tyson_ @DOualaalou @RnaudBertrand @JoshuaLipsky Direct link to PDF viewer buff.ly/aUu5OR2

Alibaba's Qianwen (Qwen) Fully Integrated with Taobao: AI Shopping Covers Full Loop from Discovery to After-Sales Used both the Qwen standalone version and the version built into Taobao, aka Alibaba e-commerce. The Taobao version is more complete as it can help you through the purchase more easily than stand alone Qwen can. Overall, a very good addition that provides not just product finding services but the ability to access reviews and will explain the different products to help you find what you need. It does this beautifully in English which will help many expats navigate Alibaba. This is far more sophisticated than Amazon Rufus, which tends to be oriented to finding products. It doesn't deliver much educational content surrounding the products. I've used it, and it continues to underwhelm. #China #techwar #chips #tech @baoshaoshan @thecyrusjanssen @DOualaalou @lajohnstondr @PSTAsiatech buff.ly/E0LvjWF

Why China is Winning the Race: US chasing AGI myth while China builds the AI future US betting AI future on a goal no one can define, while China prioritizes mass deployment over big bang discovery "The real danger for America is not “losing the AGI race.” It is winning on speculative breakthroughs while falling behind in the practical, economy-wide application of AI, producing the world’s most advanced models yet failing to fully embed intelligence into its institutions, workforce and infrastructure." The focus on practical applications that make people's lives better translates into excitement. See the chart below. #China #techwar #chips #tech @baoshaoshan @thecyrusjanssen @DOualaalou @lajohnstondr @PSTAsiatech buff.ly/5o7fZz0

Yes, you've got the data in their Ray, but need a sharper LLM to access it. The response times are laggy, and the tone is rather mechanical. One of the better models would be more suitable, and if price is an issue, run it on QWEN, which is free and more capable than your current LLM. The concept is great, and I enjoyed asking it lots of questions. Keep up the great work of spreading your message via technology.

AI isn’t about replacing humans. It’s about compounding what we know and making it accessible at scale. Over time, I’ve learned that the most valuable thing I can do is capture and refine my principles on life, work, geopolitics, and investing. Now, with my AI Twin, I’m able to extend that thinking into a public resource, available beyond my own time limitations. Digital Ray is in beta — if you’re interested, I invite you to engage with it and help me make it better. tr.ee/DeYA2K

What China’s AI Agents Reveal About the Future of Commerce China matters not because it has the best models, but because the infrastructure for delegated action is already deeply embedded in everyday life. #China #techwar #chips #tech @baoshaoshan @thecyrusjanssen @DOualaalou @lajohnstondr @PSTAsiatech buff.ly/ksHontt

Who doesn't want to issue a stablecoin these days? A 170-year-old remittance company just launched one. Western Union's USDPT is live on Solana — built into its global payments network for "always-on" settlement with Anchorage Digital as issuer. CEO McGranahan wants to turn a cost center into a revenue generator: "USDPT reinforces Western Union's role as a global payments platform," said Western Union CEO Devin McGranahan. "By integrating a regulated digital dollar directly into our network, we're creating a more efficient settlement layer that supports partners, agents and future consumer use cases." #fintech #tech #finserv #AI @BetaMoroney @efipm @BrettKing @spirosmargaris @jasuja @enricomolinari @mikeflache buff.ly/tBAJyxV

The Shifting Balance of Power Towards Asia Asia isn't catching up to the global economy. It's running it. The $126T global economy chart just dropped — and the story isn't America's $30.6T. It's this: ↳ China: 4.4% growth — fastest of the top 4 ↳ India: 6.6% growth — on track to pass Japan by 2028 ↳ Indonesia: 5% growth — despite tariff headwinds Germany and Japan? 0.7–0.8%. Barely a pulse. While the West debates tariffs, Asia just continues growing. The center of economic gravity has moved. The chart proves it. Are you still thinking of Asia in the same way you did in 2005? #China #techwar #chips #tech @baoshaoshan @thecyrusjanssen @DOualaalou @lajohnstondr @PSTAsiatech buff.ly/kF5ORbm

Congratulations to the US for helping China build Nvidia's biggest competitor. Huawei's AI chips are "Made by US Policy" Huawei could seize China’s AI chip crown in 2026 as Nvidia's H200 shipments stall in regulatory limbo — Beijing pushes homegrown AI hardware dominance in a market projected to hit $67 billion by 2030 buff.ly/DeuPiGP

The US export ban on Nvidia chips to China didn't slow China's AI one bit; it is building it. Jensen Huang just confirmed what anyone watching Asia already knew: Nvidia's China market share is now 0%. Gone. How exactly the US is "winning" by cutting NVIDIA out of the China market is beyond comprehension: ↳ Two years ago: Nvidia owned ~66% of China's AI GPU market ↳ Today: zero direct sales ↳ Gap filled by: Huawei, Cambricon, Moore Threads — and counting Proof that this backfired? Beijing didn't blink. They planted more power stations and funded domestic silicon. LLMs became more efficient and run using fewer compute resources, making them worldwide leaders. Now it isn't just Nvidia in China's sights but Silicon Valley's LLM makers. Washington handed China the one thing it needed most: urgency. It went into a full national mobilization of its AI ecosystem that is reminiscent of the US's space race. Failure is not an option, and the rewards are coming. See next tweet below..... Jensen said it best: conceding a market the size of China "probably does not make a lot of strategic sense." #China #techwar #chips #tech @baoshaoshan @thecyrusjanssen @DOualaalou @lajohnstondr @PSTAsiatech buff.ly/nOAcy7w

US Sanctions Just Hit a Whole New Level: China's No-Win Crossfire Trap China’s banks are now caught in the sanctions crossfire. Beijing just activated its blocking law & ordered firms to defy US sanctions on its refiners. Comply with US sanctions? Chinese courts slap you with multimillion-dollar “fines”. Don’t comply? US OFAC hits you with massive penalties & secondary sanctions. China’s banks face the worst squeeze: keep financing & risk US sanctions. Cut them off & violate Beijing’s orders. Total no-win trap. Watch as US and EU subsidiaries are also caught in the trap. #China #techwar #chips #tech @baoshaoshan @thecyrusjanssen @DOualaalou @lajohnstondr @pstAsiatech energyconnects.com/news/oil/2026/…

Meta just traded 8,000 humans for GPU racks. And Zuckerberg said it out loud. Not restructuring. Not "rightsizing." Compute costs more than people now, so people go. ↳ Q1 revenue: $56B — up 33% ↳ Net income: $26.8B ↳ 2026 capex: up to $145B ↳ Severance date: May 20 This isn't a tough quarter. This is a choice. Proof of this pattern? Zuckerberg explicitly said the company has two cost centers — infrastructure and humans — and infrastructure won. Then declined to rule out more cuts. 80,000 tech workers have lost jobs in 2026 so far. AI didn't take them. Capex budgets did. Welcome to the future of Big Tech, record profits, fewer humans, and absolutely no remorse. #fintech #tech #finserv #AI @BetaMoroney @efipm @BrettKing @spirosmargaris @jasuja @enricomolinari @mikeflache buff.ly/2O33LV9

Who's actually winning the AI race? While you were watching DeepSeek's price war, Alibaba's Qwen quietly won open-source AI. DeepSeek V4-Pro is already a pricing massacre: ↳ 35x cheaper than GPT-5.5 at $30.21/M tokens ↳ 29x cheaper than Claude Opus 4.7 at $25/M tokens But Qwen is the bigger story nobody's telling: ↳ 1 billion Hugging Face downloads by March 2026 — fastest ever ↳ 50%+ of all global open-source AI downloads ↳ Singapore & Malaysia chose Qwen over Llama for sovereign AI China doesn't need to beat the West on benchmarks. It already owns the infrastructure layer everyone else is building on. Cheaper tokens don't shrink AI demand — they expand it. China just set the floor. Who's actually winning the AI race? #China #techwar #chips #tech @baoshaoshan @thecyrusjanssen @DOualaalou @lajohnstondr @PSTAsiatech buff.ly/YF1qzDq