China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said.
Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said.
Photo: REUTERS
They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said.
The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor output and reduce reliance on China and Taiwan with US President Joe Biden’s administration’s 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.
It is designed to bolster US semiconductors and contains financial aid for domestic production with subsidies for the production of advanced chips.
Separately, Apple Inc has discussed using Baidu Inc’s (百度) generative artificial intelligence (AI) in iPhones and other devices within China, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, a potentially big win for the domestic search leader.
Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its gadgets, the Journal said, citing sources familiar with the matter. The US company sought a local partner because regulators there must vet all AI models, the newspaper added.
Baidu is considered one of the leaders in AI in China, where start-ups and tech giants are investing billions on developing their own answers to ChatGPT. OpenAI’s seminal creation and other foreign services are not available in China’s tightly regulated online sphere.
Apple has held discussions with Alphabet Inc’s Google and OpenAI about using their AI software on the iPhone. The company could tap multiple partners, as it does with search in its web browser.
Samsung Electronics Co, Apple’s top smartphone rival, uses Baidu as an AI provider in China for its latest Galaxy phones.
Meanwhile, South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc CEO Kwak Noh-jung on Friday met with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao (王文濤) to discuss cooperation.
Wang said he hopes SK Hynix would continue expanding investments in China as its market offers huge opportunities. Kwak said the company would keep pushing for greater development in China, which is one of its most important production bases and markets, in a statement shared yesterday.
SK Hynix is the world’s No. 2 memory chip maker after Samsung. Despite US-China technological tensions, Washington last year gave the two companies indefinite waivers to keep bringing some high-end equipment into China.
Wang also met with Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook, who unveiled plans to invest further in applied research in China. Apple gets almost 20 percent of its revenue from China and is SK Hynix’s largest customer, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
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US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
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