US expands export blacklist: Over 50 Chinese firms restricted amid AI race

Under the Trump administration, the U.S. initiated its first steps in a broader policy to limit China's technological development, placing dozens of Chinese companies on an export blacklist. 

According to American media reports, this move intensifies the pressure on Beijing, especially in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing technologies, per Caliber.Az.

The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security, a division within the Department of Commerce, added 80 organizations to its so-called Entity List, with over 50 of these companies based in China. As a result, U.S. companies are now prohibited from supplying products to these organizations without special government licenses.

The Department of Commerce explained that the companies were blacklisted for actions allegedly contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. These measures aim to further restrict China's access to exaflop-level computing capabilities, which can process vast amounts of data at ultra-high speeds, as well as to quantum technologies.

Dozens of Chinese organizations were sanctioned for their suspected role in the development of advanced AI, supercomputers, and high-performance AI chips intended for military applications, according to the Department of Commerce. The department also noted that two companies had been supplying products to entities already under sanctions, including Huawei and its subsidiary HiSilicon, which specializes in chip production.

A total of 27 Chinese organizations were added to the blacklist for acquiring U.S. goods to support China’s military modernization, while seven other firms were sanctioned for contributing to the development of quantum technologies in China.

Among the organizations added to the list are six subsidiaries of the Chinese cloud computing giant Inspur Group, which had already been blacklisted by the Biden administration in 2023.

In response, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement Wednesday evening, “strongly condemning” the export restrictions, urging the U.S. to “stop generalizing the concept of national security.”

By Tamilla Hasanova