Americas once unthinkable chip export restrictions will hobble Chinas semiconductor ambitions
Summary
Chinas ambitions to boost its domestic chip industry has likely become magnitudes more difficult and costly after the U.S. launched some of its most wide-ranging export controls related to technology against Beijing. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Commerce introduced sweeping rules aimed at cutting China off from obtaining or manufacturing key chips and components for supercomputers, in what is seen as a huge escalation in tensions between Beijing and Washington in the technology sphere. • Even foreign-made chips related to AI and supercomputing, that use American tools and software in the design and manufacturing process, will require a license to be exported to China. "The U.S. has formally shifted its goal from outpacing China in the semiconductor industry to actively denying it access to advanced chips," Pranay Kotasthane, chairperson of the high tech geopolitics program at the Takshashila Institution, told CNBC. But to make chips of this sophistication on a large scale, with lower costs and more reliability, SMIC and other Chinese foundries will need to get their hands on a specific piece of kit called an extreme ultraviolet lithography machine.