US curbs limit China's high-end AI chip production: 'Chip War' author

According to 'Chip War' author Chris Miller, US restrictions on advanced chipmaking technology have successfully limited China's ability to produce high-end AI chips, leaving it with only a few percent of the global market share.

US restrictions on the transfer of advanced chipmaking technology to China have significantly limited the country's ability to produce high-end artificial intelligence chips domestically, according to Chris Miller, author of the acclaimed book ‘Chip War’ and a leading expert on semiconductors. Speaking to ANI in an exclusive interview, Miller said China has invested billions of dollars and spent years building its semiconductor industry but continues to account for only a small share of global high-end AI chip production.

US Curbs 'Highly Effective'

“The evidence suggests that US restrictions have been highly effective in restraining China's domestic chip production,” Miller said. China is expected to produce only a few per cent of the world's high-end AI chips this year, mainly through Huawei, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is expected to account for around 95 per cent or slightly more of global AI chips when measured by computing capabilities, Miller said.

The Crucial Role of Advanced Equipment

He attributed the gap largely to China's limited access to some of the world's most advanced chipmaking equipment. In particular, China does not have access to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines made by ASML, which are crucial for manufacturing advanced semiconductor chips.

“If the US had allowed those tools to be sold to China when China first tried to buy them now seven years ago, the world would have a very different landscape with China being one of the biggest producers of high-end chips,” Miller said. “But today China is a tiny producer of high-end chips precisely because they can't get those tools,” he added.

Dependency on External Resources

The US restrictions have also forced Chinese AI companies to depend heavily on computing resources and chips from outside the country, including NVIDIA chips entering China through unofficial channels and access to NVIDIA-powered data centres located overseas, Miller said. “China's AI firms have been impressive in their innovation, but they've done so with much less computing power,” he said, adding that greater access to computing resources could strengthen their capabilities further.

Semiconductor Industry's Shift to AI

Miller also highlighted the significant changes in the global semiconductor industry since the publication of Chip War, particularly due to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence. According to him, investment and innovation in the semiconductor sector have increasingly shifted from smartphones and personal computers towards data centres, AI-focused chip architectures and advanced packaging technologies. (ANI)

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