In Liangzhu, a suburb of Hangzhou, a growing community of tech entrepreneurs is driven by a fervor for artificial intelligence. This area, dubbed the “six tigers of Hangzhou,” includes notable startups like DeepSeek and Mindverse, founded by Felix Tao, a former Alibaba employee. The provincial government has incentivized startup growth with subsidies, creating a bustling tech scene. As competition with the U.S. escalates, access to advanced chips remains critical for these innovators.