US blocks exports of artificial intelligence chips to China

According to Reuters news agency, the move could cripple some technology-intensive activities of Chinese enterprises such as image recognition.

Nvidia says the ban affects its A100 and H100 chips. These two types of chips are designed to accelerate machine learning tasks. The company also fears the latest ban could hinder the completion of development on the H100, the flagship chip Nvidia announced this year.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Nvidia’s rival AMD, told Reuters it had received new license requests that could potentially limit exports of the MI250 artificial intelligence chip to China.

However, AMD said it believes its MI100 chip production will not be affected, nor does it believe the new regulations will have a significant impact on its business.

According to Nvidia, US officials announced the new rule “will address the risk that protected products may be used or diverted” for military use. The US government is also concerned that these chips will end up in the Chinese military.

Nvidia’s announcement also shows that the US continues to escalate efforts to limit China’s technological capabilities, as tensions around the fate of Taiwan have not yet subsided. Taiwan is home to chip production for Nvidia and most other major chipmakers.

Without American chips from companies like Nvidia and AMD, Chinese companies and organizations would not be able to effectively perform advanced technical tasks such as image and speech recognition, and many other effects. other service.

Image recognition and language processing are widely used in consumer products such as smartphones. They are also used in military operations such as scanning satellite imagery for weapons or military bases, as well as filtering digital communications for intelligence-gathering purposes.