The US restricts the export of microprocessors worldwide

The US government announced on Monday that it will further restrict exports of microprocessors used for artificial intelligence, with the aim of keeping the advanced technology within the United States, or sharing it only with allied countries.

The new restrictions are seen as an attempt to balance the concerns that Artificial Intelligence poses to national security, with the economic interests of manufacturers as well as other countries.

The new rules limit the number of microprocessors that can be exported to a large number of countries and will allow unlimited access to this technology for Washington's closest allies. Exports of these products are prohibited to China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

But the new restrictions, made public in the final days of outgoing President Joe Biden's administration, go beyond China and are intended to help the United States maintain its dominant status in the field of artificial intelligence by controlling the flow of microprocessors around the world. .

"The US already leads in the field of artificial intelligence - both in the development of this technology and in the production of microprocessors for Artificial Intelligence. It is important that we preserve this," said US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The new regulation is the product of the Biden administration's four-year effort to prevent China from providing advanced microprocessors that it can use to bolster its military capabilities.

While it is currently unclear what President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration's approach to the new regulation will be, what is known is that both administrations share similar views on the threat posed by China.

The regulation is slated to take effect 120 days after its release, giving the Trump administration time to review it.

But some of the industry's most powerful voices criticized the Biden administration's plan even before it was made public.

"Nvidia", the most famous company for the production of microprocessors for Artificial Intelligence, said that the new rules of the White House would put restrictions on American firms for a technology that is already available on the market. Another well-known data storage company, Oracle, said the new rules restricting US exports would give the global market for these items to competing firms from China. VOA (A2 Televizion)