- The US has introduced new export controls on China's semiconductor industry, targeting 140 firms.
- The move aims to curb China's AI and defense tech growth, citing national security risks.
- Trump previously billed China as the main threat to the US AI industry.
The US announced another round of export controls on China's semiconductor industry on Monday, multiple outlets reported, weeks ahead of Donald Trump's second term.
Washington will restrict exports to 140 Chinese companies, including chip equipment heavyweight Naura Technology Group, in an effort to curb China's growing capabilities in AI and defense technology.
It is the third crackdown the US has initiated on China's chipmaking industry since October 2022. The move will also stop the export of advanced high-bandwidth memory, a key component used in developing AI chips in China.
Chip manufacturers Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation and Huawei are also included in the list of 140 companies.
"They're the strongest controls ever enacted by the US to degrade the People's Republic of China's ability to make the most advanced chips that they're using in their military modernization," Gina Raimondo, US commerce secretary, told reporters from the Financial Times, The New York Times, and others, on Sunday.
The US has long been embroiled in a technological race against China, which is making developments in AI and military tech at pace.
The Biden administration's latest sanctions are partly driven by national security concerns that China's access to high-quality chips could allow it to bolster its military applications, especially through the use of AI.
In November, Reuters reported that researchers in China affiliated with the People's Liberation Army had used Meta's open-source AI model Llama to develop an AI tool that could be applied to potential military use cases.
While it's the latest wave of measures from the Biden administration, Beijing reportedly anticipates further sanctions from Trump. China has been attempting to stockpile chips from the US in recent months, with purchases reaching $1.11 billion in October, according to customs data analyzed by the South China Morning Post.
Previous comments from Trump suggest he is aligned with the Biden administration when it comes to thwarting China's AI growth. In a June interview with social media personality Logan Paul, Trump billed China as the "main threat" to the US AI industry. "We have to be at the forefront" of AI, he said.
There are still some internal disagreements about the approach to restricting Hauwei chip production facilities, the Financial Times reported. Some of the Chinese tech giant's chip production plants were not included on the list, with one person close to the discussions telling the FT that they were not in operation, so it's not clear if they would be used for the production of advanced chips.
Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, said at a press conference earlier this month, "China is firmly opposed to the US overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export control measures, and making malicious attempts to block and suppress China."
The US Department of Commerce didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.