The global Artificial Intelligence boom is encountering an unexpected hurdle, and it's made of a material most people have never heard of: indium phosphide (InP). China, a dominant producer of this critical compound, has recently tightened its export controls on InP. This move is particularly significant as InP is essential for the high-speed optical chips that power the data centres underpinning AI infrastructure.
As the demand for faster data transfer in AI intensifies, the reliance on InP, a key component in photonics technology that uses light instead of electrical signals, grows. China's substantial global indium production, estimated at around 70%, places it in a pivotal, and now strategic, position. Since early 2025, Beijing has been slow to issue export licenses for InP, effectively creating a bottleneck. While not an outright ban, these delays serve as a potent tool, significantly impacting supply and driving up prices. The cost of a six-inch InP wafer has reportedly surged by approximately 250% since the controls were implemented, with major players like Nvidia-backed Coherent and AXT flagging shortages and export permits as their biggest challenges.
This situation echoes previous US-China technology disputes, where China has previously leveraged its dominance over critical materials like gallium, germanium, and rare earths. In this instance, the focus is on the optical layer of the AI supply chain, affecting the transceivers and optical components that connect AI accelerators. The impact isn't on individual chip functionality but on the overall speed of data centre construction and expansion, directly constraining the AI industry's rapid growth. This development highlights a growing vulnerability in global supply chains, where niche materials with concentrated production can become geopolitical leverage, forcing Western governments and companies to confront strategic planning challenges and the lengthy, costly process of establishing alternative production capacity. The outcome of these InP controls is now intertwined with broader diplomatic negotiations over technology and trade, with significant implications for the future pace of AI development.
Fuente Original: https://thenextweb.com/news/china-tightens-indium-phosphide-checks-as-ai-demand-climbs
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