The Biden administration announced on Wednesday the addition of more than 25 Chinese entities to the U.S. restricted trade list. Among those targeted are Zhipu AI, a developer of large language models, and Sophgo, a company whose chip made by TSMC was illicitly integrated into a Huawei AI processor.
The Commerce Department has reinforced controls over chip supplies to China to prevent diversion to Huawei. Entities tied to Zhipu AI and Sophgo are included in the list, restricting their ability to receive exports without specific approval.
Zhipu AI, with backers like Alibaba and Tencent, was added due to its contribution to China's military advancements through AI research. Meanwhile, Sophgo gained attention when a chip it acquired from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co matched the one found in Huawei's AI system.
Sophgo, linked to Bitmain, and Huawei have not yet responded to requests for comments on the recent listings. These actions come in light of the U.S. imposing stricter regulations on semiconductor exports for AI applications, particularly impacting TSMC and potentially Samsung.
Additional measures target chip factories and packaging companies to curb China's access to advanced chips crucial for military uses. The rule requires foundries to ensure chips aren't diverted to restricted entities and imposes stricter controls on memory components like DRAM, affecting Chinese manufacturer Changxin Memory Technologies.
Entities are added to the list for activities against U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, such as military-related AI advancements and chip developments aiding China's weapon systems.
These recent restrictions are part of a series of export regulations issued by the Biden administration. The U.S. has also shown ambitions in spearheading global advanced AI development.