AI Photo:VCG

China's Foreign Ministry (FM) on Tuesday lambasted new rules issued by US President Joe Biden's administration that reportedly aim to keep advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips and technology out of China,MKsport as the country vowed to take firm measures to safeguard the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies.

On Monday US time, the Biden administration issued an Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion, which encourages the diffusion of US AI technology by US "key allies and partners." It also constrains "countries of concern" from accessing advanced AI systems and the computing power used to train them, according to a fact sheet published by the White House. 

Although the fact sheet did not name specific countries, US media outlets, including The New York Times, said that the new US rules are aimed at barring China from obtaining AI technology from other countries, as the US has previously banned such sales. 

Notably, it is the "largest-scale and final" chip export restrictions during Biden's tenure, China Media Group reported on Tuesday.

Firm opposition

The move immediately drew swift and harsh criticism from China. Asked to comment on the US move at a regular press conference on Tuesday, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the FM, stressed that the US has been overstretching the concept of national security, politicizing and weaponizing trade and tech issues, and abusing export controls to maliciously suppress China. "China firmly opposes the US decision and will take firm measures to safeguard the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies."

Guo further pointed out that AI is humanity's common asset, and should not become "a game for the rich countries and the wealthy" or be used to generate another development divide. To maintain its supremacy, the US chooses to split the world into tiers, granting access to countries that are "close" and barring access to "the rest."

"The real purpose is to deprive developing countries, including China, of the right to make their own progress in science and development," Guo said, adding that this kind of roadblock strategy hurts the global common interest of promoting AI for good, and has triggered concerns from various quarters about a new tech Cold War from the US.

According to the White House fact sheet, no restrictions apply to chip sales to 18 "key allies and partners," while the rule takes significant steps against "countries of concern."

In stark contrast, China has been actively promoting global cooperation on AI. In July 2024, the 78th UN General Assembly adopted a China-led resolution on enhancing international AI cooperation, with over 140 countries supporting it. This milestone decision not only underscores the global consensus on AI governance but also highlights China's pivotal role in driving international AI collaboration, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

"China will continue to work with all parties to embrace openness, connectivity and equality instead of building walls, decoupling and discrimination, create an open, inclusive, and non-discriminatory environment for AI development that is beneficial to all, and make sure that all countries can access the benefit of AI," Guo said at the press briefing on Tuesday. 

On Monday night, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce also slammed the US administration for ignoring strong opposition from the US tech industry to issue the new rule. "The Biden administration's abuse of export control measures severely obstructs normal trade exchanges between countries, significantly undermines market rules and the international trade order, greatly impacts global technological innovation, and seriously harms the interests of companies worldwide, including those in the US," a spokesperson for the ministry said.

The Biden administration's move drew widespread criticism from the US tech industry. In a statement on Monday, US AI chip giant Nvidia blasted what it calls "the Biden Administration's Misguided 'AI Diffusion' Rule." It added that "while cloaked in the guise of an 'anti-China' measure, these rules would do nothing to enhance US security." The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), which has already expressed firm opposition to the new rules before they were published, said in a statement on Monday that the new export controls threaten to discourage the use of US technology. 

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that although the US restrictions target countries like China, they will not bode well for the US' own companies. "These restrictions will backfire on US companies such as Nvidia, because the Chinese application market is enormous," Lü told the Global Times on Tuesday.   

'Futile attempt'

Some Chinese industry representatives have also slammed the US move. The latest AI restrictions are a "futile attempt" that will not impede China's rapid progress in AI or stop the pace of China's technological development, according to Hu Ming, deputy general manager of CCCC (Zhongwei) Big Data Technology Co.

"Such restrictions do not carry much significance. While they may result in temporary disruptions, they are likely to spur China's pursuit of self-reliance in chip and AI development," Hu told the Global Times on Tuesday. "These restrictions may temporarily slow down China's development in AI, but they will also strengthen China's resolve and commitment to independently develop high-performance computing chips."

While the US has framed these restrictions as part of a global chip control measure, their impact on China is expected to be minimal, given the country's vast application scenarios for training and enhancing AI capabilities - a resource unavailable to the US, Hu noted. 

China has been focusing on addressing challenges in computational power, AI, and chip manufacturing. For instance, the Global Times reporters learned from Phytium Technology Co, a leading independent core chip provider based in Tianjin, that the company has achieved breakthroughs in key technologies, including on-chip parallel microprocessor architecture, large-scale integrated circuit design, and inherent security architecture. 

To date, Phytium's self-produced graphics processing units (GPUs) have sold over 10 million units, providing core computational support for devices ranging from endpoints to cloud services, representing a major leap from "functional" to "high-performance" domestic CPUs, according to the information the company shared with the Global Times.

While the US has and will likely continue to crack down on Chinese technological industries such as AI, "in the long run, the US' restrictions are not that significant. There will always be competition and even crackdown in competing for the leading position. However, even the harsh crackdown measures will not stop China's technological development," an executive of a chip firm based in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong, who requested to be identified as Zhou, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Zhou said that Chinese firms should view the US' moves objectively and make adjustments. "It is imperative to develop high-performance computing chips that are independently developed and controlled," Zhou said.

Lü also said that while the US restrictions may slow down China's progress in some areas, it will not stop China from catching up. "It is just matter of time before China catches up or even takes the lead. And it is possible there will be a shift in the race lane [in which China will take the lead]," Lü said.