The Biden administration on Monday announced measures to further restrict exports of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and technology.
This move is part of a plan to delineate advanced computing capabilities Provide assistance to the United States and its allies and prevent China and adversaries such as Russia, Iran and North Korea from obtaining high-tech chips.
The new rules would limit the number of artificial intelligence chips that can be exported to most countries and allow U.S. companies unlimited access to U.S. artificial intelligence technology for America's closest allies, while still banning exports to China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
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The lengthy new rules unveiled in the final days of outgoing President Joe Biden's administration extend beyond China and are intended to help the U.S. maintain its dominance in artificial intelligence by reining it in globally.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said: “The United States is now a leader in artificial intelligence, whether it is artificial intelligence development or artificial intelligence chip design, and it is critical that we maintain this leadership.”
The rules limit the Biden administration's four-year effort to impede China's access to advanced chips to bolster its military capabilities and to control the flow of chips and the global development of artificial intelligence by closing loopholes and adding new guardrails to keep the U.S. Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.
While it's unclear how President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration will enforce the new rules, the two governments share similar views on the competitive threat from China. The regulation will take effect 120 days after issuance, giving the Trump administration time to weigh in.
There will be new constraints on advanced graphics processing units (GPUs), which are used to power the data centers needed to train artificial intelligence models. Most are made by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia, while Advanced Micro Devices also sells AI chips.
Major cloud providers such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon will be able to seek global authorization to build data centers as part of new rules that will exempt their projects from national quotas on artificial intelligence chips.
In order to receive the seal of approval, authorized companies must adhere to strict conditions and restrictions, including security requirements.
So far, the Biden administration has imposed sweeping restrictions on China's access to advanced chips and their production equipment, updating controls every year to tighten restrictions and catch countries potentially transferring technology to China.
Nvidia worries about 'overexpansion'
Powerful industry voices criticized the plan even before its release, as the rules change the global landscape of artificial intelligence chips and data centers.
Nvidia on Monday called the rule “completely overreach” It also stated that the White House would restrict “technology already in mainstream gaming computers and consumer hardware.” Data center supplier Oracle said earlier this month that the rules would “cede much of the global artificial intelligence and GPU market to our Chinese competitors.”
The rules impose global licensing requirements for certain chips (with exceptions) and also control “model weights” for state-of-the-art “closed weight” artificial intelligence models. Model weights help determine decisions in machine learning and are often the most valuable element of an AI model.
This code divides the world into three levels. About 18 countries, including Japan, Britain, South Korea and the Netherlands, are largely exempt from the rules.
About 120 countries, including Singapore, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, will also face national caps. Countries with arms embargoes such as Russia, China and Iran would be completely banned from receiving the technology.
In addition, U.S.-based providers such as AWS and Microsoft that may receive global authorization will only be allowed to deploy 50% of their total AI computing power outside the United States, with no more than 25% deployed outside Tier 1 countries, and no more than In a single non-tier one country the proportion is less than 7%.
Artificial intelligence has the potential to increase access to benefits such as health care, education, and food, and can also help develop biological and other weapons, support cyberattacks, and assist with surveillance and other human rights abuses.
“The United States must prepare for rapid growth in artificial intelligence capabilities in the coming years, which could have a transformative impact on the economy and our national security,” said National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
- Reuters Additional editing by Jim Pollard
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