Race for AI: US to bring new rules this week for curtailing China’s access to advanced chipsets

The US government is considering new measures to restrict China’s access to advanced semiconductors and chip-making equipment in a bid to curb China’s development of artificial intelligence technology. The new restrictions, which will be released early this week, aim to refine and close loopholes in last year’s curbs, Bloomberg reported.

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The Biden administration plans to tighten restrictions on the sale of graphics chips for artificial intelligence technology and advanced chip-making equipment to Chinese companies.

What will the new rules cover?

The new rules will continue to restrict the supply of certain key chips to Chinese companies, their overseas subsidiaries and affiliates. They will also now require a licence to export prohibited technology to countries that could be used as brokers.

The Biden administration has also agreed to the tech companies’ demand for less blanket restrictions, with many tech leaders wanting to sell into the world’s biggest chip market. The new rules will allow companies to ship all chipsets except the powerful graphics chips that are used in gaming PCs. Companies will have to notify the US government before exporting certain advanced consumer chips to China.

The new restrictions are aimed at controlling key graphics chip components called accelerators, which are used in data centres to train AI technology. The new US rules come amid efforts by top companies to circumvent restrictions put in place last year. For example: Nvidia, the market leader in AI chipsets, developed a China-specific model to bypass last year’s restrictions.

US has also extended waivers for South Korean companies like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix and Taiwanese company Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in order to help them continue shipping some restricted technology to their facilities in China.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)