The Biden administration issued sweeping rules on Monday governing how AI chips and models can be shared with foreign countries, in an effort to create a global framework that will guide how AI spreads around the world in the coming years.
With the power of artificial intelligence growing rapidly, the Biden administration has said the rules are necessary to keep the transformative technology under the control of the United States and its allies, and out of the hands and implementation of adversaries who might use it to bolster their militaries. Cyberattacks and other threats to the United States.
Technology companies have protested the new rules, saying they threaten their sales and the future prospects of the American technology industry.
The rules place different limits on the number of AI chips companies can send to different countries, essentially dividing the world into three categories. The United States and 18 of its closest partners – including Britain, Canada, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan – are exempt from any restrictions and can freely purchase AI chips.
Countries already subject to the US arms embargo, such as China and Russia, will still face a previously existing ban on purchasing AI chips.
All other countries – most of the world – will be subject to restrictions restricting the number of AI chips that can be imported, although countries and companies are able to increase this number by entering into special agreements with the US government. These rules may anger some foreign governments: Even countries that are close trading partners or military allies of the United States, such as Mexico, Switzerland, Poland or Israel, would face restrictions on their ability to purchase larger quantities of American AI products.
In a statement by the European Commission He said on Monday She shared her concerns about the actions with the Biden administration.
“We are concerned about the US measures adopted today that restrict access to exports of advanced AI chips to selected EU countries and their companies,” the Commission said, adding that European countries are “an economic opportunity for the United States, not a security risk.”
The rules aim to prevent China from obtaining from other countries the technology it needs to produce artificial intelligence, after the United States banned such sales to China in recent years.
But the regulations also have broader goals: making allied nations the preferred location for companies to build the world’s largest data centers, in an effort to keep the most advanced AI models within the borders of the United States and its partners.
Governments around the world, especially in the Middle East, are pumping money into attracting and building massive data centers, in an attempt to become the next center for artificial intelligence development.
The base will ensure that the most advanced AI training infrastructure will be in the United States or within the jurisdiction of close allies, and “that capability will not be transferred overseas,” Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters on Sunday. “Like chips, batteries and other industries that we had to invest hundreds of billions of dollars to bring back to land.”
Mr Sullivan said the base would provide “greater clarity to our international partners and industry”, while countering national security threats from malicious actors who could use “US technologies against us”.
It will be up to the Trump administration to decide whether to keep the new rules in place or how to implement them. In a call with reporters on Sunday, Biden administration officials said the rules had bipartisan support and that they had consulted with the incoming administration about them.
Although companies in China have begun developing their own AI chips, the global market for these semiconductors is dominated by American companies, especially Nvidia. This dominance has given the US government the ability to regulate the flow of AI technology around the world, by restricting exports by US companies.
The companies have protested the restrictions, saying the restrictions could hamper harmless or even useful types of computing, anger U.S. allies, and ultimately push global buyers to buy non-U.S. products, such as those made by China.
In a statement, Ned Finkel, Nvidia’s vice president of government affairs, called the rule “unprecedented and misguided” and said it “threatens to derail innovation and economic growth around the world.”
“Rather than mitigate any threat, Biden’s new rules will only weaken America’s global competitiveness and undermine the innovation that has kept the United States ahead,” he said. Nvidia stock fell nearly 2 percent on Monday.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, said in a statement that the company is confident it can “fully comply with the high security standards of this rule and meet the technology needs of countries and customers around the world who rely on us.”
In a letter to congressional leadership on Sunday seen by The New York Times, Jason Oxman, president of the Information Technology Industry Council, a group representing technology companies, asked Congress to intervene and use its authority to repeal the measure if the Trump administration does not do so.
John Neufer, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said his group is “deeply disappointed that a policy shift of this magnitude and impact is being rushed forward days before the presidential transition and without any meaningful input from industry.”
“The stakes are high, and the timing is risky,” Mr. Neufer added.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Monday it opposed the restrictions, calling them an expansion of Washington’s longstanding jurisdiction. She said that she “will take the necessary measures to protect her legitimate rights and interests.”
The rules, which span more than 200 pages, also create a system through which companies that operate data centers, such as Microsoft and Google, can apply for special government credits.
In exchange for following certain security standards, these companies can then trade AI chips more freely around the world. Companies will still have to agree to keep 75% of their total AI computing power within the United States or allied countries, and not locate more than 7% of their computing power in any other country.
The rules also set first controls on AI model weights, which are the unique parameters of each model that determine how the AI makes its predictions. Companies setting up data centers abroad will be required to adopt security standards to protect this intellectual property and prevent adversaries from accessing it.
Governments facing restrictions can increase the number of AI chips they can freely import by signing agreements with the US government, in which they agree to align with US goals for protecting AI.
At the direction of the US government, Microsoft entered into a cooperation agreement with an Emirati company, G42, last year, in exchange for G42 removing Huawei equipment from its systems and taking other steps.
The Biden administration could issue more rules related to chips and artificial intelligence in the coming days, including an executive order to encourage domestic power generation for data centers, and new rules aimed at keeping the latest chips out of China, people familiar with the matter say. Deliberations said.
The latest rule is a reaction to an incident last year in which US officials discovered that Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications company subject to US sanctions, was sourcing components for its AI chips that were manufactured by a leading Taiwanese chip company, in violation of a US export ban. . Controls.
These announcements come as part of a series of new regulations that the Biden administration is rushing to issue before the presidential elections as part of its attempt to close the gaps and strengthen its legacy in the face of technological development in China. The administration has issued new restrictions on exports of chip-making equipment to China and other countries, proposed new restrictions on Chinese drones, added new Chinese companies to a military blacklist and rushed to complete new subsidies for American chip manufacturing.
But Monday’s AI regulations appear to be among the most comprehensive and impactful of these measures. Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming how scientists conduct research, how companies allocate tasks among their employees, and how militaries operate. While artificial intelligence has many useful uses, US officials have become more concerned that it could help develop new weapons, help countries monitor dissidents, and thus turn the global balance of power upside down.
The rules would create a framework to protect U.S. security interests while allowing companies to compete abroad, said Jamie Goodrich, a senior consultant for technology analysis at the RAND Corporation. “They are also looking to the future, trying to preserve supply chains led by the United States and its allies before moving them abroad to the highest support bidder,” he said.
Alexandra Stevenson He contributed reporting from Hong Kong.