来自华尔街日报，链接https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-considers-new-curbs-on-ai-chip-exports-to-china-56b17feb

The Biden administration is considering new restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence chips to China, as concerns rise over the power of the technology in the hands of U.S. rivals, according to people familiar with the situation.

据知情人士透露，随着人们对美国竞争对手手中的人工智能芯片的实力日益担忧，拜登政府正在考虑对向中国出口人工智能芯片实施新的限制。

The Commerce Department could move as soon as early next month to stop the shipments of chips made by Nvidia  英伟达 and other chip makers to customers in China and other countries of concern without first obtaining a license, the people said. 

知情人士称，美国商务部最早可能于下月初采取行动，在未事先获得许可证的情况下，停止向中国和其他相关国家的客户运送英伟达和其他芯片制造商生产的芯片。

The action would be part of final rules codifying and expanding the export control measures announced in October, some of the people said.

一些知情人士表示，这一行动将成为编纂和扩大 10 月份宣布的出口管制措施的最终规则的一部分。

The Commerce Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

商务部没有立即回应置评请求。

An Nvidia artificial intelligence supercomputing graphics processing unit. PHOTO: I-HWA CHENG/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Nvidia 人工智能超级计算图形处理单元。照片：I-Hwa Cheng/彭博新闻

The move could further crimp China’s ability to build its AI capabilities after restrictions last year that cut off the most advanced AI chips made by Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

继去年限制英伟达和超微公司生产的最先进人工智能芯片被切断后，此举可能会进一步削弱中国建设人工智能能力的能力。

Nvidia responded to that move by making a version of its AI chips for the Chinese market called the A800 that fell below performance thresholds outlined by the Commerce Department. That chip replaced the A100, which is widely used in data centers to do AI computations.

英伟达对此做出了回应，为中国市场生产了一款名为 A800 的人工智能芯片，该芯片的性能低于商务部规定的阈值。该芯片取代了 A100，后者广泛用于数据中心进行人工智能计算。

The new restrictions being contemplated by the department would ban the sale of even A800 chips without a license, according to the people familiar with the matter. 

据知情人士透露，该部门正在考虑的新限制措施甚至将禁止在未经许可的情况下销售 A800 芯片。

Nvidia declined to comment, and AMD didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

英伟达拒绝置评，AMD 也没有立即回应置评请求。

The administration is also considering restricting leasing of cloud services to Chinese AI companies, which have used such arrangements to skirt the export bans on advanced chips, some of the people familiar with the discussions say. 

一些知情人士表示，美国政府还在考虑限制向中国人工智能公司租赁云服务，这些公司利用此类安排来规避先进芯片的出口禁令。

The timing of the rule’s rollout is still uncertain, as chip makers continue to push the administration to forgo or ease the new restrictions. The administration is likely to wait until after a visit to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in early July to avoid angering Beijing, according to a source familiar with the situation. 

该规则的推出时间仍不确定，因为芯片制造商继续敦促政府放弃或放松新的限制。据一位知情人士透露，政府可能会等到财政部长珍妮特·耶伦 (Janet Yellen) 7 月初访华之后再采取行动，以避免激怒北京方面。

The discussions follow the rise of so-called generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which became a cultural phenomenon only after the first set of restrictions went into place last year. 

这些讨论是在 OpenAI 的 ChatGPT 等所谓的生成式人工智能工具兴起之后进行的，该工具在去年第一组限制措施实施后才成为一种文化现象。

U.S. officials and policy makers increasingly see AI through a national-security lens. Weapons infused with AI could give U.S. rivals a battlefield advantage, and AI tools could be used to create chemical weapons or produce malicious computer code.

美国官员和政策制定者越来越多地从国家安全的角度看待人工智能。注入人工智能的武器可以为美国竞争对手带来战场优势，人工智能工具可以用来制造化学武器或生成恶意计算机代码。

Yet, protecting critical technologies while minimizing the impact on the operations of companies from the U.S. and allied nations is a huge challenge for the administration. “We are protecting our foundational technologies with a small yard and high fence,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in April.

然而，保护关键技术，同时尽量减少对美国及其盟国公司运营的影响，对政府来说是一个巨大的挑战。国家安全顾问杰克·沙利文（Jake Sullivan）四月份表示：“我们正在用小院子和高栅栏保护我们的基础技术。”

The Commerce Department in October implemented a range of stringent export control measures on advanced semiconductors and the chip-making machinery, but it has not issued formal regulations to codify the rules. Since last fall, the administration has gathered comments from affected businesses and negotiated with the governments of allied nations to hammer out the final rules. 

美国商务部十月份对先进半导体和芯片制造机械实施了一系列严格的出口管制措施，但尚未发布正式法规来编纂这些规则。自去年秋天以来，政府收集了受影响企业的意见，并与盟国政府进行谈判，敲定了最终规则。

The U.S. has persuaded the Netherlands and Japan—which have the world’s top manufacturers of chip-making equipment—to join the U.S.’s policy and has been working with them to unify the list of controlled items.

美国已经说服拥有全球顶级芯片制造设备制造商的荷兰和日本加入美国的政策，并一直在与它们合作统一管制物项清单。

The U.S. is also expected to allow chip makers from South Korea and Taiwan to continue operating and expanding their existing plants in China manufacturing less advanced, or legacy, chips. 

预计美国还将允许韩国和台湾的芯片制造商继续运营和扩大其在中国的现有工厂，生产不太先进或传统的芯片。

The Biden administration is also weighing an executive order that will restrict U.S. investment in China and other geopolitical rivals.

拜登政府还在考虑一项限制美国对中国和其他地缘政治竞争对手投资的行政命令。