Violations of the Biden Data Center Rule: AI in the United States Cannot be Exported to Other Nation’s Borders
Nvidia, the world’s leading manufacturer of AI chips, called the rule “unprecedented and misguided” in a blog post. These rules would do nothing to improve US security, while they were said to be anti-China. Rather than mitigate any threat, the new Biden rules would only weaken America’s global competitiveness, undermining the innovation that has kept the US ahead.”
The US already limits exports of advanced AI chips to China, a key geopolitical rival, but companies there have been able to build cutting algorithms using computer clusters located in other nations. Under the new rule, China will not be able to build so-called frontier AI models in other nations impacted by the rule.
“In the wrong hands, powerful AI systems have the potential to exacerbate significant national security risks, including by enabling the development of weapons of mass destruction, supporting powerful offensive cyber operations, and aiding human rights abuses, such as mass surveillance,” the White House said in a statement. Today, countries of concern use the technology in a way that seeks to undermine the US’s leadership in Artificial Intelligence.
The new data center rules aim to make sure that the most advanced models are not left outside of the United States. Microsoft says that it could comply fully with the rule and meet the technology needs of countries and customers around the world that depend on Microsoft, according to the New York Times.
Raimondo said ahead of the announcement that the technology used to powerAI and model weights is a dual use technology. They can be used to develop bio weapons and run nuclear simulations, as well as in many commercial applications.
Arms embargoed nations such as China, Iran, and North Korea are already forbidden from obtaining advanced chips. The new rule will for the first time restrict their access to advanced models.
Supply chain activities, including the design, manufacturing, and storage of chips will be exempt from the rule. The rule won’t restrict Meta’s Llama, according to the administration.
Reliability of China’s new export control policy on advanced artificial intelligence models: What does it tell us about the rest of the world?
The list of trusted nations are the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden and Taiwan.
The new export control scheme designed by the Biden administration is controversial, as it is meant to prevent the advanced chips and artificial intelligence models themselves from ending up in China’s hands.