Biden administration adds 14 Chinese firms to trade block list

Push day to day to sweep AI chip export restrictionsThe Biden administration has added 14 Chinese companies to its restricted trade list.

Sophgo is, perhaps, the highest-profile addition. An entity of Bitmain, the firm made international headlines when it was identified as an intermediary for Chinese hardware giant Huawei and Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC.

Doubts arise In December A chip found in Huawei’s Ascend 910B AI processor is after being connected to Sophgo, a purchase made from TSMC. At the time, the Biden administration announced plans to blacklist the firm, a promise it has now made good on.

The move comes amid a flurry of activity in the waning days of the Biden administration. Monday’s response to the “Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Deployment” drew a swift and sharp response from the industry. American silicon AI giant Nvidia called the action “The wayward.”

The statement first praised the Trump administration’s handling of AI, refusing to pull punches against the outgoing administration:

In his final days in office, the Biden administration has attempted to undermine America’s leadership with a 200+ page regulatory morass, drafted in secret and without proper legislative review. This massive overreach would impose bureaucratic controls on how America’s leading semiconductors, computers, systems and even software are designed and marketed worldwide. And by trying to push market outcomes and stifle competition — the lifeblood of innovation — the Biden administration’s new rules threaten to erode America’s hard-won technological advantage.

Of course, Huawei’s approval that blocked the company from using American-founded technology, such as Google’s Android and Qualcomm chips, first came during the Trump administration. How, precisely, is unclear, as the incoming administration looks to continue a tough stance toward China, while encouraging American innovation in the AI ​​race.