Cloud computing has become a foundational infrastructure in AI-driven development, reorganizing IT resources into scalable, programmable services. Originating as an internal response to growing computational demands, it has evolved into a platform-based model. Globally, a small number of hyperscalers—Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud—dominate the market, embedding AI development within their vertically integrated, proprietary ecosystems. This model extends a longer trajectory of infrastructure privatization in the United States, while raising concerns about inequality, opacity, and dependency.

This talk presents a comparative study of how the trajectory of the cloud computing in China diverges. It situates the private platform expansion within a state-centered infrastructural logic characterized by territorially embedded assets, bureaucratic segmentation, and security priorities. The analysis shows that China’s cloud development is shaped by ongoing negotiations between platform and state logics, producing a hybrid system in which private innovation and public control are structurally interdependent.

About the speaker

Dr. Jingyan Elaine Yuan is a Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Her research is situated at the intersection of critical media studies and Science & Technology Studies, focusing on the social processes of digital infrastructure and culture within a global and comparative framework. Her work on social media activism, online privacy, cyber-nationalism, digital cultural production, and the platform economy has been published in leading academic journals. She is the author of the award-winning book, The Web of Meaning: The Internet in a Changing Chinese Society.

During the talk, Prof. Yuan will give a 45-minute lecture, followed by Q&A. The talk will be moderated by Dr. Tommy Tse (University of Amsterdam).

We look forward to seeing you there!
*Poster designed by Faith Cooper.
For any inquiries, please contact Dr. Ke Ma (k.ma@uva.nl)