A group of companies that specialize in tracking international shipments of sensitive technologies are backing a Capitol Hill bill that would require America’s most powerful AI chips to incorporate stronger security mechanisms aimed at preventing the chips from reaching China and other adversaries.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The letter, signed by six companies, says that the Chips Security Act (CSA) would increase the competitiveness of American chip companies while closing key loopholes in the U.S.’ export control regime.
The move clashes with claims from semiconductor lobbying groups that the requirements would constrain America’s booming chip industry.Sent to Congressional leadership Thursday morning and seen by NBC News, the dispatch instead argues that more robust security verification would provide chip customers and manufacturers with assurance they are abiding by sensitive restrictions on chip sales.
The companies argue this boosted confidence will “lead to increased sales, faster export approvals, larger transactions, greater access to new markets, and more expansive chip deals.” Despite U.S.export control laws banning sales of advanced AI chips to certain countries including China, loopholes in current requirements have allowed billions of dollars worth of America’s best AI chips to be sold to entities in third-party countries that can then forward the chips to China.
In just one case from March, the Justice Department charged three individuals with conspiring to forward $2.5 billion of AI chips to China.The CSA aims to address those loopholes, mandating that chip exporters enable better tracking of where advanced chips are sent, either via bespoke location-verification hardware or software that can run on existing hardware.This, bill proponents claim, would ensure that sensitive chips can be sold to countries like Malaysia or Indonesia without fear of further transf...