In June 2013, using 80,000 Xeon processors made by Intel, China built the world’s most powerful supercomputer by calculations per second, the Tianhe-2, or “Milky Way 2.” It remained number one on the global list of supercomputers until late 2015. The U.S. government didn’t like that. So, the Department of Commerce enacted a ban on exports of Xeon chips to China going forward. No matter. Last year, China brought on line the TaihuLight, which became the eighth consecutive supercomputer built by China to top the global ranking. But the Taihu Light was also a notable first: Its 40,000 processors were of an indigenous Chinese design using the Chinese military’s Sunway chip architecture. The ability to present to the world a new “most powerful computer,”using indigenous rather than imported chips, is emblematic of advances in several industries in which China is pushing toward the forefront of innovation and technical capability.