Due to worries that the U.S. and the U.K. may take action, Alibaba and other Chinese corporations will no longer be able to obtain some of the most cutting-edge chip designs from British company ARM. won’t let the technology to be exported to China.
The ARM decision comes two months after the U.S. adopted stringent export regulations to stop China from acquiring cutting-edge chips or the technology and apparatus required to domestically produce high-end semiconductors. After finding that the Neoverse V series’ performance was too high for Chinese companies like Alibaba’s T-Head chip unit to be permitted for purchase, ARM made the decision. In addition to Alibaba, other Chinese businesses will also be impacted by this move.
Smartwatches and supercomputers both use chips made by ARM, which is renowned for creating sophisticated RISC architectures. Despite not producing its own chips, ARM sells its designs to organisations like TSMC and Samsung. The most potent Neoverse V2 core produced by the firm to far is thought to have been created in the US.
For the first time, ARM has decided it cannot export its most cutting-edge designs to China. The Wassenaar Arrangement, a group of 42 countries’ multilateral agreement, prohibits the deployment of dual-use technology for military reasons and applies to the Neoverse V. ARM would require export authorizations from the U.S. and the U.K. to sell this technology to China.
China filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization earlier this week against the export restrictions placed in place by the US. The Chinese government is likely to vigorously oppose ARM’s decision to stop selling its most cutting-edge designs to China since the US government considers YMTC, a Chinese semiconductor manufacturer, to be a “national champion.”
Source: Financial Times (paywall)
