June 11 (Reuters) - The Biden administration is
considering further restrictions on China's access to chip
technology used for artificial intelligence, Bloomberg News
reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The measures being discussed would limit China's ability to
use a cutting-edge chip architecture known as gate all-around,
or GAA, the report said.
GAA is a type of transistor architecture that helps improve
chip performance and reduces power consumption.
The United States has been working to limit Beijing's access
to advanced AI chips, such as those designed by leader Nvidia ( NVDA )
, through tightened trade restrictions amid fears that
China may use the technology to bolster its military.
With the scope of the potential rule still being determined,
it is not clear when officials will make a final decision, the
report said.
"The new controls are part of an effort by allied
countries to each impose separately controls they had agreed to
several years ago during Wassenaar Arrangement multilateral
regime meetings but that were not ultimately approved because
Russia blocked the consensus-based regime from publishing the
controls," said Washington lawyer Kevin Wolf, a former Commerce
official.
Wolf noted that in March, the UK imposed controls over
technology for integrated circuits with "Gate all-around
Field-Effect Transistor" (GAAFET) structures, which are
generally for advanced node integrated circuits. "The U.S. and
other allies are thus expected to impose this GAAFET and many
other earlier-agreed-upon controls this summer," Wolf said.
The rule is not yet finalized after industry officials
criticized the first version as overly broad, the report said,
adding that it is unclear whether the ban would restrict China's
ability to develop its own GAA chips or seek to block U.S.
chipmakers and other overseas companies from selling their
products to Chinese firms.
Leading semiconductor firms including Nvidia ( NVDA ), Intel ( INTC )
and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ), along with chip
manufacturers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ( TSM ) and
Samsung are aiming to start mass production of chips
with the GAA design within the next year, according to the
report.
Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Intel ( INTC ) declined to comment. The other companies
did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment,
while the U.S. Department of Commerce declined to comment.
Stricter restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors
to China have already hampered chipmakers' position, with
companies such as Intel ( INTC ) and Qualcomm saying their sales
would take a hit after the U.S. revoked some of their export
licenses for a customer in China.
The Bloomberg report also said there have been some
early-stage discussions about limiting exports of high-bandwidth
memory (HBM) chips.
HBM chips, such as those made by South Korea's SK Hynix
and Micron Technology, help speed up AI
applications and are used by companies like Nvidia ( NVDA ).