The administration of US President Joe Biden is preparing new, tougher restrictions on the Chinese chip manufacturing industry. The US Department of Commerce intends to limit the transfer of relevant technology and know-how to China.
So, the department sent letters to the American companies KLA Corp, Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials Inc. These letters contain an order to stop the export to China of machinery and equipment necessary for the production of semiconductor components using a process technology of less than 14 nanometers. Only those companies that obtain a proper export license will be able to continue cooperation with China in this matter.
Recall that a few weeks ago, the United States restricted the sale of the latest NVIDIA and AMD graphics chips to Russia and China. The new restrictions are more stringent and will affect the entire semiconductor industry in China. The US government uses “information” letters to avoid a lengthy regulatory process and to introduce new controls more quickly. However, such restrictions apply only to those companies that receive the letter, and not to the entire industry.
Many other companies are also actively discussing and monitoring possible export restrictions. For example, Intel and Cerebras Systems are producing AI accelerators similar to those offered by NVIDIA and AMD. At the same time, Dell, HPE and Supermicro offer server hardware equipped with the NVIDIA A100 GPU. Restrictions may also be placed on their cooperation with China
Although the government’s official position has yet to be revealed, a senior official said that “as a general rule” the Department of Commerce seeks to “codify any restrictions contained in information letters with regulatory changes.” The Biden administration intends to limit China’s ability to create advanced computing technology without outside help. Although these efforts may be pointless, since the Asian semiconductor giant SMIC, apparently, can already produce chips based on the 7nm manufacturing process.
Source: technology spot
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