Exclusive | Chip war: US may unveil new rules limiting China access to AI chips before Biden goes

The changes aim to control global shipments of powerful GPUs essential for training AI models by closing existing regulatory loopholes

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Under the Biden administration, the US has implemented three major export control rules to restrict China’s ability to use US core tech to modernise its military. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Published: 9:00pm, 3 Jan 2025Updated: 4:32am, 4 Jan 2025

The US government may unveil new restrictions targeting China’s black-market trade in advanced chips during the last week that President Joe Biden is in the White House, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The South China Morning Post reported earlier that Washington plans to issue a new rule by the end of December 2024 aimed at curbing Chinese companies’ sourcing of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips from unrestricted third-party countries. But sources briefed on the matter said the Biden administration had decided to postpone the release of the so-called “global artificial intelligence (AI) diffusion rule” due to delays in expert reviews as a result of US government “budgetary issues”.

However, President Biden is still expected to implement the rule before January 20, his last day in office, the sources said.

The changes aim to control global shipments of powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) essential for training AI models by closing existing regulatory loopholes.

The development follows the recent US Section 301 trade investigations into China’s production of so-called legacy chips, and the blacklisting of 140 Chinese chip firms, including major semiconductor equipment makers.

This photo taken on December 25, 2024 shows an employee at a semiconductor factory in Binzhou, in eastern China’s Shandong province. Photo: AFP

Under the Biden administration, the US has implemented three major export control rules to slow China’s progress in advanced semiconductor production and restrict access to sophisticated chips and manufacturing equipment amid concerns US core tech will be used to modernise the Chinese military.