Media: US restricted the export of computer chips to Russia and China

WASHINGTON, Sep 1 – PRIME. The administration of US President Joe Biden has imposed restrictions on the sale of some high-tech computer chips to Russia and China, the New York Times writes.

The new restrictions apply to high-end models of chips known as graphics processors, or GPUs, sold by Silicon Valley companies Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

According to the newspaper, in recent decades, said chips have been used “in the largest supercomputers used by scientists and Internet companies for functions such as recognizing speech and objects in photographs.”

It is noted that now the US government requires export licenses for the sale of types of high-performance chips. The US government, according to the newspaper, said that such products could be used or redirected for military purposes to China or Russia.

“Restrictions are part of the cold war between China and the United States for supremacy in advanced technologies,” the publication said.

Earlier, Biden signed into law a $52.7 billion support measure for US semiconductor manufacturers to strengthen its position in competition with China. The Biden administration in its 2021 supply chain review acknowledged the country’s significant reliance on TSMC products, and according to research group Capital Economics, TSMC produces more than 90% of the world’s most advanced microchips. Major U.S. tech corporations, including Apple, Intel, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, AMD, and Broadcom, buy microchips from TSMC, while the U.S. government depends on Taiwanese microchips for some of its most important and complex systems, including weapons. According to experts, Washington’s current policy towards the island carries significant risks if the situation develops into an armed conflict and affects the production of semiconductors in Taiwan supplied to the American market.