Chip war heats up as U.S. said to mull new curbs on exports to China
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The U.S. is weighing new restrictions on AI chip exports to China, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter, as part of the final rules codifying the export control measures announced in October.
The latest restrictions could be implemented as soon as next month, following Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's China visit to avoid angering Beijing.
Leasing of cloud services to Chinese AI companies may also be restricted, the report said. Restrictions on U.S. investment in China and other geopolitical rivals are also being considered.
Last year's measures prohibited U.S. firms from working with Chinese chipmakers and allowed for certain chips to only be sold to China-based companies with an export license, on account of national security fears. 
Prior to that, the U.S. government curbed the sale of certain AI chips of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) to China and Russia. 
Nvidia's (NVDA) A100 chip and other microprocessors were among those restricted. The latest curbs could potentially ban the sale of A800 chips without a license. The A800 chip was launched in response to last year's export rules. 
The U.S. even lobbied for its allies to take similar measures against China, with the Netherlands and Japan caving in.
Chip stocks fell before the bell on Wednesday: Nvidia (NVDA) -4.6%, AMD (AMD) -3.5%, Qualcomm (QCOM) -1.7%, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) -1.6%, Intel (INTC) -1.3%.
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