Washington. The Biden Administration is planning to restrict the access of Chinese companies to American cloud services, according to sources familiar with the situation as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The proposed restriction aims to address a significant loophole in current export control rules. National Security Analysts have warned that Chinese companies involved in artificial intelligence could potentially evade these rules by utilizing cloud services.
If accepted, a new rule would likely require American suppliers of cloud services, such as Amazon.com and Microsoft, to obtain permission from the US government before providing cloud services to Chinese clients utilizing advanced artificial intelligence chips.
This step is aimed at safeguarding American technologies from theft and preventing their use by China for military purposes. China is considered the main competitor of the United States in the field of artificial intelligence.
The announcement of this restriction by the Ministry of Trade is expected to take place in the coming weeks as part of the expansion of semiconductor exports introduced in October.
This ban on cloud services will be the latest development in the ongoing dispute between Washington and Beijing concerning semiconductors and other advanced technologies.
In response to this conflict, China has previously prohibited certain firms from purchasing products from Micron Technology, the largest memory chip manufacturer in the USA.
On Monday, Beijing announced restrictions on the export of metals used in advanced chip production, just days before the visit of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to China.
Yellen expressed hope for halting the downward spiral in relations, as US officials are concerned that China may block access to critical goods, such as components for electric vehicle batteries. Meanwhile, Chinese officials claim that the US is intentionally slowing down China’s economic development.
It is anticipated that this decision will elicit a response from Beijing, which has already accused the United States of waging a trade war and discriminating against Chinese companies.