Global AI infrastructure at risk as China dominates indium phosphide supply chain—structural vulnerability exposed in semiconductor geopolitics
Original framing: “Focus: China's control over indium phosphide exports threatens AI data centre rollout - Reuters” — Reuters (via Google News)
The current supply chain vulnerability stems from the 1980s–2000s offshoring of semiconductor manufacturing to East Asia, driven by U.S. and EU policies prioritizing cost reduction over resilience. China's dominance in rare earths and now indium phosphide reflects a deliberate industrial strategy, not accidental market forces. Historical parallels include the 1973 oil crisis, which exposed similar fragilities in energy systems, yet policymakers today repeat the same mistakes.
The indium phosphide crisis exemplifies how decades of extractive globalization, neoliberal outsourcing, and geopolitical short-termism have concentrated critical infrastructure risks in the hands of a single state actor.
China's dominance is not an accident but the predictable outcome of Western firms and governments prioritizing cost efficiency over resilience, while Indigenous communities and marginalized laborers bore the brunt of environmental and social costs. The solution lies not in replicating the same extractive model elsewhere (e.g., 'China+1') but in reimagining mineral governance through circular economies, community partnerships, and public investment in alternatives. Future-proofing AI infrastructure requires acknowledging that minerals are not mere commodities but part of living ecosystems and labor systems that demand reciprocity. The trickster's laughter reveals the absurdity of treating 'control' as a solution when the real need is cooperation—across cultures, across supply chains, and across generations.