China and the U.S. Turn R&D Infrastructure into a Regulated Control Point

China and the U.S. are turning R&D infrastructure—compute, cloud access, licensing, and collaboration pathways—into regulated chokepoints that shape who can research, transfer, and commercialize advanced technologies.

• •Export controls are moving upstream from products to research platforms, data, and know-how.
• •Cloud access, GPU clusters, and model weights are becoming compliance triggers, not just chips.
• •Biotech licensing, joint R&D, and patent transfers may now require pre-clearance or approval.
• •Teams need transaction-level review for compute, IP, samples, and cross-border collaboration.
• •R&D speed will favor organizations that build compliance into project design, not after the fact.