At an event in Beijing this week, Chinese search giant Baidu announced a new version of its most successful language model, called Ernie 4.0. Baidu claims that the performance of this model matches that of the AI model behind ChatGPT. The company said it used tens of thousands of chips to form Ernie 4.0. The type of chip used was not specified, but a source within the company, who asked to speak anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, confirmed that Nvidia chips were used .
The new rules will prohibit companies from selling chips based on their computing speed and power density, or the amount of processing power contained in a square area. The U.S. government has not named the H800 chip, but it is widely seen as the target of the new controls.
Allen says the new restrictions on chipmaking equipment could be just as important as the stricter rules around the sale of AI training chips. These rules will outright ban the sale of certain equipment, whereas previous controls were based on their end use, preventing Chinese companies from obtaining equipment by hiding what they intended to do with it.
“These controls maintain our clear focus on military applications and address threats to our national security posed by the PRC government’s military-civil fusion strategy,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement. published by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security. .
The government’s 2022 restrictions have proven controversial among U.S. chipmakers, with some apparently balking at the prospect of additional controls.
The Semiconductor Industry Association, an organization that represents U.S. chip companies, issued a statement in response to the new restrictions expressing concern. “We recognize the need to protect national security and believe that maintaining a healthy U.S. semiconductor industry is an essential part of achieving this goal,” the statement said. “Overbroad, unilateral controls risk harming the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem without advancing national security because they encourage foreign customers to look elsewhere. Accordingly, we urge the administration to strengthen coordination with allies to ensure a level playing field for all businesses.
U.S. chip restrictions may have helped boost China’s domestic chip industry, which is seen as lagging behind those of the United States, Taiwan and South Korea by several years . In September, Huawei, a company particularly targeted by U.S. export controls, announced the Mate 60, a smartphone with a 7-nanometer chip made by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China’s most advanced chipmaker . The 7-nanometer manufacturing process is relatively advanced, suggesting that SMIC made technical progress faster than expected or was able to circumvent export controls.
The tightening of controls also comes at a delicate diplomatic moment, as the U.S. government seeks to improve relations with China. Members of the Biden administration have traveled to Beijing in recent months to meet with Chinese officials. President Biden may meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members in San Francisco next month.
“The United States must stop politicizing and weaponizing trade and technology issues and stop destabilizing the global industrial and supply chain,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said yesterday. in response to a question about a possible tightening of restrictions.
The United States is unlikely to do so, says Chris Miller, an associate professor at Tufts University and author of Flea Wara 2022 book on the geopolitical role of semiconductors. “The new rules explicitly list technology transfer to several of China’s leading AI chip design companies,” he says, and could be updated annually. “Tensions” around chips – and the AI capabilities they enable – will likely remain in focus. China-US relations,” says Miller.
