Tech war: US wants cloud firms to report foreign users tapping their computing power for AI applications

“We want to make sure we shut down every avenue that the Chinese could have to get access to our models or to train their own models,” Raimondo said in an interview last month.

China’s development of AI and other next-generation technologies is a top concern for the Biden administration, which sees Beijing as its primary global strategic competitor.

Washington has tried to rein in China’s advances by restricting chip exports to the country and sanctioning individual Chinese firms, but the country’s tech giants have managed to make significant breakthroughs despite US curbs.

China’s semiconductor industry weathers tough year amid tighter US sanctions

One key update targeted Chinese-headquartered companies operating in more than 40 countries, an attempt to prevent those firms from using other nations as intermediaries to secure semiconductors they cannot access at home.

But what the rules did not address is Chinese firms’ ability to tap into the capabilities of those chips via the cloud.

It is unclear exactly how the US would regulate that type of activity. Cloud services do not involve the transfer of physical goods, and the Commerce Department has specifically said they are beyond the domain of export controls.

Tighten US restrictions on China’s access to key technologies, Congress told

Thea Kendler, assistant secretary for export administration, told lawmakers last month that “we may need additional authority in that space”.

US cloud providers have worried that restrictions on their activities with overseas users without comparable measures by allied countries risks disadvantaging American firms.

The Commerce Department will separately survey companies that are developing LLMs about the results of their safety tests, Raimondo said on Friday, though she did not provide details about what they will request.

Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet did not immediately respond to requests for comment.