© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Semiconductor chips are seen on a printed circuit board in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo - The Biden administration is considering closing a loophole that gives Chinese companies access to American artificial intelligence chips through units located overseas, according to four people familiar with the matter.
Reuters reported in June that the very chips barred by U.S. regulations could be purchased from vendors in the famed Huaqiangbei electronics area in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. "Absolutely, Chinese firms are purchasing chips for use in data centers abroad," said Greg Allen, a director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noting that Singapore is a big hub for cloud computing.
"We don't actually know how big a problem this is," said Hanna Dohmen, a Research Analyst at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology .