Nvidia (NVDA.US) reiterates: Biden's new chip export rules will undermine the US' AI leadership

Nvidia (NVDA.US) on Monday criticized new measures by the Biden administration to strengthen US control over the global flow of artificial intelligence chips, saying the rule would jeopardize America's current leadership in the field. Ned Finkle, vice president of government affairs at Nvidia, said in a statement that the rule, which is expected to be announced as early as Monday, "could undermine global innovation and economic growth" and "weaken America's leadership." He said on Friday: "The Biden administration's attempt to control everyday data center computers and technology already in the world's gaming computers under the guise of anti-Chinese actions is meaningless."

Last month, media reports said the US Commerce Department planned to approve global exports of AI chips while preventing bad actors from getting them.

President Biden is planning new restrictions on the export of AI chips from companies such as Nvidia in the days before he leaves office, the US government said on Monday, adding that it would further restrict the export of AI chips and technology, keeping advanced computing power in the US and its allies while finding more ways to stop China from getting them.

US officials are hoping to limit the sale of AI chips used in data centers at both the national and corporate levels and get global companies to align with US standards, according to people familiar with the matter.

At the highest level, a small group of US allies will essentially be able to get US chips without restrictions, while a group of adversaries will be effectively blocked from importing semiconductors. And the vast majority of countries in the world will be restricted in their ability to import and use computing technology to prevent any one country from becoming too dominant in computing power.

Finkle said the US's leadership in AI would be harmed because the rule "would impose bureaucratic control on America's leading semiconductors, computers, systems, even software, that are designed and marketed globally."

The company also said the rule would not improve US national security and would control technology already widely used in gaming and consumer hardware.

Finkle said: "Biden's new rules will not mitigate any threat, but will weaken America's global competitiveness and destroy the innovation that keeps America ahead."