The United States announced new regulations limiting the export of semiconductors and chip fabrication equipment to China. Website Protocol reports that some of the restrictions will go into action right away while others will be released in the following weeks.
The first set of measures is aimed at restricting semiconductor shipments to China. According to a report by Protocol, a new foreign product law will prohibit businesses from selling processors used for advanced computing and artificial intelligence applications to clients in China. The law is expected to apply to both items made by US companies and semiconductors made by foreign companies employing US technology.
Supercomputers are targeted
One of the new rules is aimed at chips and components used in supercomputers. This regulation, along with limitations for AI and advanced computing application exports, is slated to take effect on October 21.
In August, the US government informed Nvidia of new export restrictions affecting some of its datacenter AI processors. The limitations prevent Nvidia from distributing its A100 and H100 graphics cards to Chinese clients. Around the same time, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was advised of similar export prohibitions.
The export regulations announced today apply not just to chips but also to semiconductor production equipment. Some components that can be utilized to create semiconductor manufacturing equipment are impacted as well.
The chip industry has 60 days to respond
Furthermore, the United States will prohibit manufacturers from providing tools needed to manufacture FinFET chips to clients in China. The limitations apply to equipment capable of producing flash chips with 128 or more layers of memory cells.
The limits also apply to instruments that produce DRAM chips with a half-pitch of 18 nanometers or less. The Commerce Department will add 31 Chinese businesses to its unverified list, which monitors organizations that may transmit sensitive technology to groups subject to export controls.
In addition, the government is broadening the existing export prohibitions that apply to the 28 corporations on its Entity List. The semiconductor industry has 60 days to provide comments on the rules before they are reviewed and modified as seen fit.
1 day ago
