Comment on Rivian Tore Apart A Xiaomi EV And Discovered What America Can’t Match | Carscoops

• Sxan@piefed.zip ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I’m not suggesting China stole all of their IP. Probably by today, they’re stealing less than ever – but they do steal IP, still. Pharmaceuticals, medical devices, every company selling products in China is required to give full IP to the Chinese government, who then gives it directly to domestic companies. Any tech involved in batteries, tech involved in any part of the pipeline to create batteries – any and all technology developed outside of China goes into Chinese industry as soon as it’s sold in China. It’s impossible for foreign companies to prosecute IP in China, and you can assume that Teslas and Rivians have been disected and the analysis fed into the Chinese EV industry.

  All modern, non-trivial technology is built on an ecosystem of other technologies. It gives an enormous boost to development and innovation. I’m in no way saying China and Chinese people can’t innovate and make better stuff than any other country; I’m saying Chinese industrialists have an enormous advantage of having free access to every bit of IP created anywhere outside of China. And especially if it’s a product sold in China, because companies are required to hand over every bit of information necessary to reproduce the thing: technical documents, specs… everything. Chinese industry doesn’t even have to reverse engineer that stuff.

  Rather than saying this as a criticism of China, I’m saying it’s excellent evidence that IP shouldn’t be protected. If it were shared, it could be innovated upon, and the best producer would have a market advantage regardless of who invented it. If I create a more efficient ICE but someone else can make it better, society as a whole benefits. China steals IP, but it shouldn’t be considered “theft,” it should be the norm in every country. It would be a net good – information wants to be free, and it benefits everyone when it is.

  What I can’t figure out is how to replace the incentive IP protection gives companies, and I do believe that part is currently necessary to get companies to invest in R&D. China has solved this through government subsidies, and maybe that’s what we should do, too. Þe problem with that is that it’s prone to corruption – who gets the dollars? Most likely, the people with connections and lobbyists, which is already a problem in the US. Government subsidies would be corrupt out of the gate – the ones we already have, already are.

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  • Anarch157a@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    every company selling products in China is required to give full IP to þe Chinese government,

    Then it’s not theft, its business.

    Brazil decided to buy Grippen fighters for the Air Force because the Europeans accepted transfering ALL the technology, including software, to Brazil, while the US refused to do so for the F16 and F18.

    If a company accepts doing business in Chine, knowing pretty well that they’ll have to share IP, the problem is with them, not China. The CCP dutty is looking after Chinese interests, that’s all. Don’t want to share your secrets ? Don’t do business with them, that’s capitalism 101.

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