Home Money New US rule aims to block China’s access to AI chips and models by restricting the world

New US rule aims to block China’s access to AI chips and models by restricting the world

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New US rule aims to block China's access to AI chips and models by restricting the world

The Biden administration today announced a bold and controversial new export control scheme, designed to prevent its own advanced chips and artificial intelligence models from ending up in the hands of adversaries like China.

The administration’s new “AI diffusion rule” divides the world into nations that are allowed relatively unlimited access to the United States’ most advanced silicon and AI algorithms, and those that will require special licenses to access the technology. The rule, which will be enforced by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, also seeks to restrict the movement of the most powerful AI models for the first time.

“The United States now leads the world in AI, both in AI development and AI chip design, and it is critical that we continue that way,” US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said ahead of the announcement. today.

The list of trusted countries are the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden and Taiwan.

Companies in other countries that are not subject to arms controls will be able to obtain up to 1,700 of the latest AI chips without special permission, the rule states. They will be able to apply for a special license to purchase more chips, build large-scale data centers using American technology, or gain access to the “weights” of more powerful closed models manufactured by American companies. Businesses will need to have adequate physical and cyber security to obtain a license.

Supply chain activities, including chip design, manufacturing and warehousing, will be exempt from the rule. The rule also won’t restrict open source AI models like Meta’s Llama, the administration says.

Nations with arms embargoes, such as China, Iran and North Korea, are already prohibited from obtaining advanced chips. The new rule will restrict your access to advanced models for the first time.

“The semiconductors that power (AI) and the model weights are, as we all know, a dual-use technology,” Raimondo added before the announcement. “They are used in many commercial applications, but our adversaries can also use them to conduct nuclear simulations, develop biological weapons, and advance their militaries.”

However, the rule is sure to generate controversy because it could strangle international AI sales at a critical time for the industry. It comes just a week before Trump’s inauguration. The ruling sets out a 120-day consultation period, meaning Donald Trump’s administration is expected to listen to opinions, perhaps modify the rule and then enforce it.

Nvidia, the world’s leading AI chip maker, called the standard “unprecedented and misguided” in a blog post. “Although disguised as an ‘anti-China’ measure, these rules would do nothing to improve US security. “Rather than mitigating any threats, Biden’s new rules would only weaken America’s global competitiveness, undermining the innovation that has kept America ahead.”

The United States already limits exports of advanced AI chips to China, a key geopolitical rival, but companies in that country have been able to create slicing algorithms using clusters of computers located in other nations. Under the new rule, China will not be able to build so-called frontier AI models in other nations affected by the rule.

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