Biden-Harris Admin’s Export Controls May Have Given China The Upper Hand In The Global AI Race

The Biden-Harris administration’s controls on chips used for artificial intelligence (AI) may have allowed China to gain a strategic advantage in the global tech race, according to multiple reports.

Fears that China may have leapfrogged the U.S. in the AI race have been escalating after the Chinese startup DeepSeek made national headlines for rivaling similar models in the U.S., causing American 💻Technology stocks to plunge on Monday. During his term, former President Joe Biden introduced several export controls aimed at reducing China’s global AI influence by limiting the export of advanced chips to the nation first in 2022, and again strengthening restrictions in 2023.

The 2022 restrictions primarily focused on chips with a military application, but still allowed China to purchase H800 chips — which were designed to comply with U.S. export controls while maintaining a competitive technological edge for AI development — from major chipmaker Nvidia, before the U.S. introduced additional export controls in 2023, The Wall Street Journal