Is the U.S. government retaliating against China’s export ban on rare earth metals?
According to The Wall Street Journal, the White House is considering a plan to restrict China’s access to cloud-computing services offered by Amazon and Microsoft.
The newspaper reported that U.S. firms would need to obtain government permission before letting Chinese customers access cloud services utilizing advanced AI chips.
Ouch.
More from the WSJ:
“The proposed restriction is seen as a means to close a significant loophole. National-security analysts have warned that Chinese AI companies might have bypassed the current export controls rules by using cloud services.
These services allow customers to gain powerful computing capabilities without purchasing advanced equipment—including chips—on the control list, such as the A100 chips by American technology company Nvidia.“If any Chinese company wanted access to Nvidia A100, they could do that from any cloud service provider. That’s totally legal,” said Emily Weinstein, a research fellow at Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology.
The Commerce Department is expected to unveil the action within the coming weeks as part of an expansion of its semiconductor export control policy implemented in October, the people said.
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The ban on cloud services would be the latest in a series of tit-for-tat actions between Washington and Beijing over semiconductors and other advanced technologies.
Concerned about China’s advancement in artificial-intelligence technologies and their military applications, the Biden administration is stepping up efforts to limit transfers of chips and other products and services to Chinese companies.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will have her work cut out for her as she travels to China this week.
Overall, these measures would significantly impact America’s green energy push. But what about China? Beijing has been accelerating investments in domestic chip manufacturing. Plus, it always has Taiwan to invade.
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