You severely underestimate what they can do with alternative tech paths. You don't have to chase nanometers for good AI system outcomes. Their current, and very viable, strategy is to build a ton of slower chips and to pump in a humongous amount of power. And to optimize the software stack, e.g. more efficient architectures. Unlike the west, they have a lot of cheap power (think solar panels in the desert) and excellent transmission. It also means they'll have to innovate on powder delivery and cooling systems to handle that sort of scale, but that's still easier than building EUV. Huawei has already done it with their phone from last year: they put in a more power-hungry chip, but they innovated hugely woth passive heat dissipation and bigger batteries, so the end product is still something consumers want. And with these Chinese AI models you're already seeing how they're reducing costs so they can run more on fewer chips.