US-China economic war: The United States considers tightening restrictions on China’s Access to AI Chip Technology
The Biden administration is considering further restrictions on China’s access to advanced chip technology used in artificial intelligence in a bid to limit its ability to use the latest chip technology, known as the “Universal Gateway,” which promises to dramatically improve the strength of semiconductors.
The potential measures are aimed at making it harder for China to assemble the advanced computing systems needed to build and run AI models, in a proactive move to curb the spread of the technology before its commercialized.
Chip’s one-stop gateway technology is central to this context, with companies such as Nvidia, Intel, and Advanced Microdevices, in collaboration with manufacturers such as Taiwan Semicondoctor and Samsung Electronics, looking to start mass production next year.
The moves come at a time when the United States is already imposing several restrictions on the sale of semiconductors and advanced chip-making tools to China.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has repeatedly stressed that the United States will continue to strengthen these measures as necessary to ensure that advanced AI technology remains out of Beijing’s hands, given concerns that it could be used to boost China’s military capabilities.
With the presidential election approaching in November, the Biden administration is racing against time to issue additional regulations focused on determining which technologies should be prioritized.
These moves have already weighed on equity markets, with Nvidia down as much as 2.5%, AMD down 1.9%, and Intel down less than 1%.
Although a final decision hasn’t yet been made, some sources indicate that the draft decision on the universal portal technology has been sent to the Technical Advisory Committee, which provides advice on specific technical standards.
Although the initial version of the resolution has faced criticism from industry officials as not strict enough, ongoing talks about restricting exports of high-bandwidth memory chips are still in their initial stages.
The United States is also working with some of its allies to develop special export control measures for Universal Gateway technology, as part of an informal agreement reached during recent trade talks.
Since 2022, the United States has been imposing restrictions on this technology under a previous agreement.
A spokesman for the Commerce Ministry’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls, declined to comment on the developments.
A representative of the National Security Council didn’t respond to a request for comment.
