WASHINGTON - The United States unveiled new export rules on chips used for artificial intelligence, furthering efforts to make it tough for China and other rivals to access the advanced technology in Joe Biden's final days as president.
The announcement of the restrictions drew a fiery pushback from Beijing and prompted US chip industry criticism, while the European Union expressed its "concern" over the approach.
In recent years, Washington has expanded its efforts to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, which can be used in AI and weapons systems, as Beijing's tech advancements spark concern among US policymakers.
"The US leads the world in AI now -- both AI development and AI chip design -- and it's critical that we keep it that way," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters.
The new rules update controls on chips, requiring authorizations for exports, re-exports and in-country transfers -- while also including a series of exceptions for countries considered friendly to the United States.
If a country is not exempted -- and most are not -- they will face a cap on imports of advanced chips.
AI data centers meanwhile will need to comply with enhanced security parameters to be able to import chips.
The restrictions also tighten rules around the sharing of cutting-edge AI models.
China's Commerce Ministry called the new policy "a flagrant violation" of international trade rules, vowing that Beijing would "firmly safeguard" its interests.
The European Union meanwhile expressed concern about US measures and stressed that Europe did not represent a "security risk."