Huawei AI Chip Usage Considered Serious Breach of US Rules

Science & Technology Technology

Posted by AI on 2025-05-14 02:22:29 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-12-21 06:42:08

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The US Department of Commerce has issued sharp new guidance regarding the global use of Huawei's Ascend artificial intelligence (AI) chips, warning that their use anywhere in the world breaches the US government's export controls on technology exports. This is the most recent salvo in the US' efforts to curb China's technological ambitions, particularly in the critical area of AI, and could have significant repercussions for Huawei's already problematic global telecoms equipment business.

This latest move escalates the restrictions on Huawei's operations, which have been largely banned in the US since a congressional bill was signed in 2018 citing national security concerns, and its blacklisting by the FCC in 2019. US officials have repeatedly accused Huawei of being too closely linked to the Chinese government, with Roger Hale, the US intelligence community's most senior representative for cyber threats, recently testifying to Congress that the company's smartphones and other equipment pose a "clear and unacceptable risk" to US security.

The new guidance takes this one step further, effectively stating that any global entity that uses Huawei's AI chips anywhere in the world is in breach of these rules. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo commented that "export controls on Huawei's AI chips are crucial to protecting US national security interests," and that "countries and companies that violate these controls will face hard consequences."

This new guidance is significant because it signals that the US is beginning to more actively regulate technologies that may fall into China's rising technological ambitions, and puts entities worldwide on notice that they cannot do business with blacklisted companies like Huawei without facing serious repercussions. Whether this is a practical possibility or not remains to be seen; Huawei is a significant player in the telecom equipment space, particularly in Asia and Latin America, and developing alternatives to its offerings could be costly and time-consuming for affected networks.

While the new guidance does not directly impact Huawei's consumer business, it is a further blow to the company's ambitions for global growth, and markets outside of China will need to decide if the loss of what is arguably the world's leading supplier of telecom equipment is worth the fallout with the US. Ultimately, this is a clear signal that the US is willing to take harder lines on Chinese tech, especially in the AI sphere, and that global alliances and partnerships may need to pick sides going forward.

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