US warned China of revised chip rules

The Biden administration warned Beijing of its plans to update rules that curb shipments of AI chips and chipmaking tools to China as soon as early October, a US official said, a policy decision aimed at stabilizing relations between the superpowers.

The Commerce Department is working on an update of restrictions first released last year. The update seeks to limit access to more chipmaking tools in line with new Dutch and Japanese rules, sources said, and to close some loopholes in export restrictions on artificial intelligence chips.

Meanwhile, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she was "upset" when China's Huawei Technologies released a new phone with an advanced chip during her visit to the country last month, but noted that the US has no evidence China can make those components "at scale."

"We are trying to use every single tool at our disposal to deny the Chinese the ability to advance their technology in ways that can hurt us," Raimondo said.

Meanwhile, four Taiwanese technology companies are helping Huawei Technologies build infrastructure for an under-the-radar network of chip plants across southern China.

Subsidiaries of Topco Scientific, L&K Engineering, United Integrated Services, and Cica-Huntek Chemical Technology Taiwan have been identified as working with Huawei to build chip fabrication facilities.