The European Union will raise concerns with the US over a decision to restrict the export of artificial intelligence (AI) chips from the likes of Nvidia Corp to some of its member states, according to people familiar with the matter.
In one of its last moves in office, former US president Joe Biden’s administration introduced a three-tier system to curb sales of AI chips used in data centers. The US placed Poland and a number of its allies in the EU’s east in the second-tier category of countries that face limits to the amount of computing power they can purchase.
The goal of the measures, which companies such as Nvidia and Oracle Corp have warned could be catastrophic for the US tech industry, is to ensure that the global development of AI aligns with American standards and relies on US technology.
Photo: Ronald Wittek, EPA-EFE
The rules split the globe into a group of close US allies including western European nations as well as Canada, Japan and the UK, which won’t face serious restrictions. The second category that will involve caps on AI chip imports covers most of the world, while the third group involves adversaries such as China and Russia, which are effectively barred from buying the powerful semiconductors.
The move goes against the EU’s single market by treating member states differently, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private discussions. It would also hinder innovation in the bloc’s east and unfairly favor western European companies, one of the people said.
Polish Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski said the White House’s decision was “incomprehensible and is not based on any substantive reasons.” Foreign ministers from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania said in a joint statement that it undermines “the development of our national AI eco-systems.”
Although US President Donald Trump made little specific mention of Europe in his inaugural address, he has repeatedly threatened tariffs and the bloc is bracing for the worst.
If attempts to engage with the new US administration on alternatives such as a common approach to China fail, the EU has already prepared lists of goods to target if Trump moves forward with tariffs.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
Intel Corp is joining Elon Musk’s long-shot effort to develop semiconductors for Tesla Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp and xAI, marking a surprising twist in the chipmaker’s comeback bid. Intel would help the Terafab project “refactor” the technology in a chip factory, the company said on Tuesday in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform. That is a stage in the development process that typically helps make chips more powerful or reliable. The chipmaker’s shares jumped 4.2 percent to US$52.91 in New York trading on Tuesday. The Terafab project is a grand plan by Musk to eventually manufacture his own chips for
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it plans to resume operations at two coal-fired power generators for three months to boost security of electricity supply as liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply risks are running high due to the Middle East conflict. The two coal-fired power generators are at Mailiao Power Plant in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮). The plant, operated by Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), supplied electricity to Taipower’s power grid until the end of last year. Taipower’s decision came about one month after Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on March 10 said that the nation had no imminent
Some robotaxi passengers were left stranded in the middle of fast-moving traffic in a major Chinese city after their driverless vehicles stopped running, according to police and media reports on Wednesday. A preliminary investigation indicates more than 100 robotaxis came to a halt because of a “system malfunction,” police in the city of Wuhan said in a statement, without elaborating. No injuries were reported. One passenger told Chinese media that their robotaxi stopped after turning a corner. An instruction on a screen read: “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in 5 minutes.” After no one showed up, the passenger pushed
RSS