People get too caught up in attaching technology to a given place or person. "Chinese technology" vs "US technology". And probably a related phenomenon, when the "lead engineer in charge of the original Pentium" goes to work for Samsung or something (hypothetically), people think that means that Samsung is going to start making x86 processors or something silly like that.
Technology is bigger than any one person or place. Samsung could make x86 chips just fine without hiring a single Intel engineer, if they put enough money behind the project. Likewise, China could out-innovate silicon valley if they poured trillions into it (and I'm sure they make that calculation yearly and decide not to). Likewise, the US could build fabs and get back up to speed with China when it comes to chip production, but they would have to pour trillions into it, and it would disrupt our image of green/clean technology.
Technology is bigger than any one person or place. Samsung could make x86 chips just fine without hiring a single Intel engineer, if they put enough money behind the project. Likewise, China could out-innovate silicon valley if they poured trillions into it (and I'm sure they make that calculation yearly and decide not to). Likewise, the US could build fabs and get back up to speed with China when it comes to chip production, but they would have to pour trillions into it, and it would disrupt our image of green/clean technology.