The outgoing administration of United States President Joe Biden is proposing a new framework for the export of advanced computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence, an attempt to balance national security concerns about the technology with the economic interests of producers and other countries.
But the framework proposed Monday also raised concerns of chip industry executives who said the rules would limit access to existing chips used for video games and restrict in 120 countries the chips used for data centres and AI products. Mexico, Portugal, Israel and Switzerland are among the nations that could have limited access.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a call with reporters previewing the framework that it’s “critical” to preserve America’s leadership in AI and the development of AI-related computer chips. Fast-evolving AI technology enables computers to produce novels, make scientific research breakthroughs, automate driving and foster a range of other transformations that could reshape economies and warfare.
“As AI becomes more powerful, the risks to our national security become even more intense,” Raimondo said. The framework “is designed to safeguard the most advanced AI technology and ensure that it stays out of the hands of our foreign adversaries but also enabling the broad diffusion and sharing of the benefits with partner countries.”
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stressed that the framework would ensure that the most cutting-edge aspects of AI would be developed within the US and with its closest allies instead of possibly being offshored like the battery and renewable energy sectors.
A tech industry group, the Information Technology Industry Council, warned Raimondo in a letter last week that a hastily implemented new rule from the Democratic administration could fragment global supply chains and put US companies at a disadvantage. Another group, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), said Monday that it was disappointed the policy was being “rushed out the door” before a presidential transition. President-elect Donald Trump is to take office on January 20.
“The new rule risks causing unintended and lasting damage to America’s economy and global competitiveness in semiconductors and AI by ceding strategic markets to our competitors,” SIA President and CEO Jo