More Pain For China? Team Biden's Tech Curbs May Reportedly Expand To AI, Quantum Computing

The Biden administration is considering the possibility of fresh export curbs that would limit China’s access to some of the most powerful emerging computing technologies including quantum computing and artificial intelligence, reported Bloomberg, citing sources.

Industry experts are working on how to set the parameters of the restrictions on this still-developing technology, the report said, adding that the new ideas have been shared with U.S. allies.

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Quantum computing, a developing field, seeks to dramatically increase the power and speed of computing, which would empower machines to solve problems beyond the capacity of the present generation of computers. Companies like Microsoft Corporation MSFT, Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG, Intel Corporation INTC and IBM IBM are dedicating millions of dollars to quantum projects.

Sanctions imposed by the Biden administration prevent the export of chip manufacturing tools and design software and forbid top companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. TSM and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd SSNLF from producing cutting-edge chips for Chinese businesses. The sanctions also require any U.S. citizen working in the Chinese semiconductor industry to quit their job or be at risk of losing U.S. citizenship.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had reportedly convened a series of emergency meetings over the past week with leading semiconductor companies in order to assess the damage from the Biden administration’s chip restrictions and to pledge support for the critical sector.

Officials from the ministry appeared unsure about the way forward. While they did not provide any clue regarding possible counter-measures, they did stress the fact that the domestic IT market would provide sufficient demand for the affected companies to continue operating, the report added.

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