BEIJING: Beijing condemned on Wednesday (May 21) new US warnings on the use of AI chips made in China, vowing it would take steps against “bullying” efforts to restrict access to high-tech semiconductors and supply chains.
Washington has sought in recent years to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, concerned that they could be used to advance Beijing’s military systems and otherwise undermine American dominance in AI.
US President Donald Trump’s administration last week rescinded some export controls on advanced computing semiconductors, answering calls by countries that said they were being shut out from crucial technology needed to develop artificial intelligence.
Some US lawmakers feared the restrictions would have incentivised countries to go to China for AI chips, spurring the superpower’s development of state-of-the-art technology.
But Washington also unveiled fresh guidelines warning firms that using Chinese-made high-tech AI semiconductors, specifically tech giant Huawei’s Ascend chips, would put them at risk of violating US export controls.
In a statement Wednesday, Beijing’s commerce ministry described the warnings as “typical unilateral bullying and protectionism, which seriously undermine the stability of the global semiconductor industry chain and supply chain”.
China accused the US of “abusing export controls to suppress and contain China”.
“These actions seriously harm the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and endanger China’s development interests,” the commerce ministry said.
It also warned that “any organisation or individual that enforces or assists in enforcing such measures” could be in violation of Chinese law.
And it vowed to take “firm steps to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests” in response.
