US Orders NVidea to Halt Sales of Top AI Chips to China

[Cavalry Canuck]

Summary

The US government is implementing an export ban to halt the sale of top-of-the-line AI chips to Chinese firms. This stems from the growing tensions over Taiwan. In addition to NVidea, AMD has received a similar demand for it’s top AI chips. Only 3 chips overall were cited in the article (A100, upcoming H100, and AMD’s M1250).

 

Quotes

Quote

Chip designer Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) said on Wednesday that U.S. officials told it to stop exporting two top computing chips for artificial intelligence work to China, a move that could cripple Chinese firms' ability to carry out advanced work like image recognition and hamper Nvidia's business in the country.

 

The announcement signals a major escalation of the U.S. crackdown on China's technological capabilities as tensions bubble over the fate of Taiwan, where chips for Nvidia and almost every other major chip firm are manufactured.

 

My thoughts

 

This is a big escalation by the US in a situation that many were hoping would settle down and go away. The deterioration of relations between the United States and China is very likely past the point of no return at this point, and we are now well into the beginning of the Second Cold War. As with the First Cold War, technology will be a major, if not even more important, part of the arms race as it progresses. Technology is firmly entrenched in the social fabric of both the Eastern and Western worlds, and that which has the superior tech will see advantages in every facet of the conflict.

 

Frankly, I’m surprised it took until now for such tech export bans to occur. China’s aspirations have been obvious for decades, and the current decline in relations began well before the current rise in tensions over Taiwan.
 

However, I’m concerned about the efficacy of such a ban. China has been engaging in tech espionage for decades (ie. Huawei’s use of Nortel tech). Given this level of espionage as well as their developing indigenous tech sector, they might not need western chip designs anymore. 

This leads to the matter of production. It is already suspected that a significant part of China’s desires on Taiwan stem from the incredible tech manufacturing industry that company has developed. With this in mind, could such a ban by the USA simply expedite China’s plans for an invasion of Taiwan? And if so, is the ban helping the situation in any way, or making it even worse? 

 

Sources

Reuters

[SansVarnic]

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