US blocks sales of some AI chips to China as tech crackdown intensifies
GuardianDec 05, 2022
The Facts
On Wed., American chipmaker Nvidia publicly acknowledged that the US government has restrained the sale of advanced chips to China amid fears that the technology could be diverted to a "military end use."
This comes as the company reported in a regulatory filing that new licensing requirements to sell chips for high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) to China, Hong Kong, and Russia could make it lose as much as $400M.
The Spin
Pro-China narrative
America's desperate attempts to maintain its hegemony by controlling science, technology, and trade will harm not only China but the entire global industry. Eventually, this blockade will fail as the Chinese chip sector has been steadily developing to catch up with advanced countries.
Anti-China narrative
Though American firms may be affected by these restrictions, the US government is protecting national security. The US can't rely on China to be a responsible actor, and Washington must take action to prevent Beijing from diverting US technology to military end-use.