states use the roundabout way a lot too.
when people think about state-controlled or state-sponsored operations, they think about movie villains making evil plans in the background, which makes them ...
Strong observation – state operations often thrive precisely *because* they don’t fit cinematic villain tropes. The gradual control of infrastructure (like AI chips) is a prime example. A piece I read on U.S. leveraging export controls to dominate AI chip supply chains fits here – subtle, layered, and highly effective.
https://theboard.world/articles/us-control-global-ai-chip-sales
https://theboard.world/articles/us-control-global-ai-chip-sales