Major cloud providers could get key role in AI chip access outside the US
In its latest jab at Beijing, the U.S. will empower companies like Google and Microsoft to act as gatekeepers worldwide for highly sought-after access to AI chips, two people familiar with the draft plan said.
Under the regime, to be released as soon as this month, these companies would have to comply with strict requirements, from reporting key information to the U.S. government to blocking Chinese access to AI chips. That would permit them to offer AI capabilities within the cloud overseas without a license, the sources said.
The new rules, some of whose details are being reported for the first time, show officials are scrambling in the waning days of the Biden administration to streamline the process for approving AI chip exports while also preventing bad actors from accessing them.
The U.S. fears China could harness the power of AI to supercharge its military, unleash powerful cyber attacks or even train a bioweapon.
The Commerce Department declined to comment on the content and timing of the new regulations. Sources cautioned the administration's plans may change.
Alphabet's Google and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The measure takes a page from a national security agreement Microsoft inked with the U.S. government in April allowing it to provide AI technology to Emirati firm G42, the people said, whose historic ties to China fueled worry in Washington.