AI Chip Photo: VCG

 
Arm Holdings Plc chief executive officer Rene Haas said on Thursday that US export controls on China threaten to slow overall technological advances and are ultimately bad for consumers and companies, aligning himself with Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang and others looking to ease tensions between the world's two largest economies, Bloomberg reported. 

If you narrow access to technology and you force other ecosystems to grow up, it's not good, Haas said. "It makes the pie smaller, if you will. And frankly, it's not very good for consumers." He also noted that Arm's footprint in China is "quite significant," per the report. 

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the US semiconductor supply chain, particularly innovative companies, the vortex of US policies has inflicted heavy damage, as major industrial players could offset their market losses through substantial subsidies. Many SMEs have lost irreplaceable market share and profits that could have been generated through collaboration with China, Ma Jihua, a veteran telecom industry analyst, told the Global Times on Friday. 

The global semiconductor ecosystem relies on large firms for stability and small enterprises for breakthrough innovations. US policy restrictions have severely stifled this innovation, delaying major players' production expansions and causing downstream stagnation in consumer electronics, Ma noted. 

Also on Thursday, US Commerce Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler said at a Congressional hearing that Huawei's ability to produce artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors will be very limited this year, claiming that it will be able to make just 200,000 of its Ascend AI chips in 2025, according to a separate Bloomberg report. 

"It's critical for us not to have a false sense of security, to understand that China is catching up quickly, but that is our projection for this year," Kessler was quoted in the report, who oversees US export control programs. "We shouldn't take too much comfort in the fact that China's production of these advanced chips is relatively small, because we know they have global ambitions."

For the US, a paradox exists in its rhetoric: it portrays China's rapid progress in AI, chips, and software as a significant challenge, thereby justifying its sanctions and blockades, while simultaneously touting its own enduring technological supremacy to bolster confidence among global partners and the American public, Ma said. 

On Thursday, Nvidia's Huang told CNBC that if the US continues to impose AI semiconductor restrictions on China, then Huawei will take advantage of its position in the world's second-largest economy. 

"Our technology is a generation ahead of theirs," Huang said, but warning that "if the US doesn't want to partake, participate in China, Huawei has got China covered, and Huawei has got everybody else covered."

Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei said in an interview with the People's Daily recently that there are many companies in China making chips, and many are doing well; Huawei is just one of them. The US has exaggerated Huawei's achievements - the company isn't that powerful yet. We need to work hard to live up to their evaluation, he said. 

Responding to the US' restrictions targeting China's high-tech sector, Chinese authorities have repeatedly criticized such unilateral and protectionist practices with firm opposition. 

China's Ministry of Commerce in May called the US attempt to globally ban advanced Chinese computing chips a typical move of "unilateral bullying and protectionism" that seriously undermines the global semiconductor industrial and supply chains, warning that any organization or individual implementing or assisting with these US measures will face legal consequences.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian also stated at a press conference on May 16 that the US overstretches the concept of national security, abuses export controls and long-arm jurisdiction, and groundlessly and maliciously blocks and suppresses China's chips and AI industry, which severely violates market rules, destabilizes global industrial and supply chains, and undermines Chinese businesses' legitimate rights and interests. 

Lin noted that China firmly opposes this and absolutely does not accept it. China urges the US to drop its protectionist acts and unilateral bullying, and stop its egregious suppression on China's tech businesses and AI industry. China will take firm measures to defend its right to development and Chinese businesses' legitimate rights and interests. 

Global Times