Bangladesh, Oct. 8 -- For four years, Washington has pursued an increasingly aggressive strategy to restrict Chinas access to advanced semiconductors. The objective was straightforward: deny Beijing the computing power required to compete with the United States at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence.

But four years is more than enough time to examine whether that strategy has delivered what its architects promised.

The evidence increasingly suggests something deeply uncomfortable for Washington: Americas semiconductor restrictions may have done less to stop Chinas AI ambitions than to accelerate them.

When the United States began tightening export controls, many Chinese semiconductor companies were struggling to attract custome...