Export controls

For technology that can be used in the military or that matters to a nation's competitiveness, the government blocks exports or requires a permit. Even if a company wants to sell, it cannot without government approval. The rules sometimes cover not only finished products but also the equipment and technology used to make them, and even sending people to help.

From October 2022, the United States sharply limited exports of advanced AI chips and chipmaking equipment going to China. Companies then began making and selling separate chips with their performance lowered to fit the rules, and China is putting great effort into building up its own chips. The detailed criteria change often.

It is like a village that makes the best farm machines deciding not to sell the newest machines or the know-how to a neighboring village. The machine company loses customers, and the neighboring village tries to build the machines itself.

Which countries an AI chip company can sell what to depends on these rules. Each time the rules tighten or loosen, the plans of chip companies and AI companies shake together.