The competition between the United States and China over advanced AI chips is intensifying, and Southeast Asia is increasingly being pushed to pick a side.
According to The Vietnamese Magazine, the region can no longer realistically stay neutral in this technology contest. The publication frames the rivalry as an "AI Chip War" — a struggle between the world's two largest economies for control over the semiconductors that power artificial intelligence.
For years, many Southeast Asian nations have tried to balance ties with both Washington and Beijing, benefiting from trade and investment on both sides. The Vietnamese Magazine argues that this balancing act is becoming harder to sustain as the chip dispute deepens and both powers press partners and trading hubs to align with their standards, supply chains, and export rules.
The outlet's central point is that neutrality is slipping out of reach: as the US and China build competing technology blocs around AI hardware, countries in the region may be forced to make choices that carry economic and strategic consequences.
Why it matters: Southeast Asia sits at the heart of global electronics manufacturing and trade, so pressure to choose sides in the AI chip war could reshape supply chains, investment, and the geopolitical alignment of some of the world's fastest-growing economies.