The United States’ goal is to limit China’s access to advanced semiconductors that could drive advances in AI and sophisticated computers.
The US government plans to stop shipments to China of more advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips designed by Nvidia and other companies, as part of a set of measures aimed at preventing Beijing from obtaining cutting-edge technologies to strengthen its military.
The rules, outlined by senior government officials at a news conference on Monday afternoon, restrict a broader range of advanced chips and semiconductor manufacturing tools to a larger number of countries, including Iran and Russia, and put the blacklist two other unnamed Chinese companies involved in advanced chip manufacturing.
The new measures are intended to hinder China’s military development by filling gaps in the regulations published last October and will likely be updated “at least once a year,” according to Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo.
The goal is to limit China’s access to “advanced semiconductors that could drive advances in AI and sophisticated computers that are critical for (Chinese) military applications,” he said, stressing that the government is not seeking to harm Beijing economically.
The United States and China have had a technological war for years, but the extensive restrictions imposed last October further aggravated the tension between the superpowers.
Leading AI chip designer Nvidia has made chips like the A800 and H800, which continued to be sold to China, while AMD has indicated it plans a similar strategy.
Nvidia’s business has soared since the rules were imposed last year because its China-only chips remain better than alternatives. The Silicon Valley company is currently selling almost all the chips it can buy as global demand outstrips supply, but it would be hurt in the long term as Chinese chip companies try to fill the gaps left by the companies. Americans.
Nvidia’s A800 and H800 chips will be affected by the new regulations, due to a change in the parameters of the chips aimed at capturing a greater number of them. However, the rules will exempt most consumer chips used in laptops, mobile phones and games, although some will be subject to licensing and notification requirements by US authorities.
