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The U.S. government is thinking of imposing additional restrictions on China’s access to chip technology used for AI, and would target a new hardware, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The potential measures being discussed would curb China’s ability to use a chip architecture called gate all-around, or GAA, the report added.
GAA is expected to make semiconductors more powerful and is currently being unveiled by chipmakers.
It was not clear when officials would make a final decision, as the scope of a potential rule is still under discussion, the report noted.
The U.S. efforts are aimed at restricting China’s access to advanced chips and equipment, including those used for making AI products. This time around, the aim is to curb access to still-nascent technology before it is commercialized.
Companies including Nvidia (NVDA) Intel (INTC), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), plus manufacturing partners such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) and Samsung Electronics’ (OTCPK:SSNLF) intend to begin mass-production of semiconductors with the GAA design within next year, the report noted.
The U.S. and its allies including the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea and Japan have all been tightening curbs on the Asian country’s access to advanced semiconductor technology.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security recently sent a draft GAA rule to a technical advisory panel. The committee, which consists of industry experts and gives advice on technical parameters, is the final step in the regulatory process, according to the report. But the rule is not finalized after industry officials criticized the initial version as overly broad.
There are also early-stage discussions on curbing exports of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM chips, the report stated.
The HBM chips, which are made by Micron Technology (MU) and South Korean companies SK Hynix and Samsung, among others, speed up access to memory, helping strengthen AI accelerators.
However, it was not clear if a rule on HBM chips could come together, as the GAA discussions were further along.
Some allies of the U.S. are pushing their own GAA technology export curbs as part of an agreement which came during recent trade talks. There are already U.S. curbs on design software for GAA technology, imposed in 2022 after an agreement in the previous year, the report added.