These restrictions are part of ongoing efforts by the US to curb China's AI sector, which began under the Trump administration. Despite these controls, Chinese tech giant Huawei has continued to develop competitive chips for training large AI models. Some experts question whether these sanctions are encouraging China to advance its own chipmaking capabilities, reducing its reliance on American companies. A recent report suggested that China had already begun increasing investment in domestic chipmaking before the US began restricting access to advanced semiconductors.
Key takeaways:
- The Biden administration is expected to announce measures to restrict China's ability to develop advanced artificial intelligence, including sanctions on Chinese companies that produce semiconductor equipment and restrictions on chip manufacturing plants.
- These measures could also include controls on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a key component in high-performance GPUs and AI chips, potentially affecting around 200 Chinese firms.
- Despite previous US export controls aimed at limiting China's advanced silicon production, Chinese tech giant Huawei has continued to develop competitive AI training chips.
- Some experts question whether US chip sanctions are actually accelerating China's progress in chipmaking, reducing its reliance on American companies, as evidenced by Huawei's recent unveiling of a smartphone featuring an advanced chip from Chinese chipmaker SMIC.