At lights out, Biden includes Chinese giant in US technology war

A startup Zhipu AIbased in Beijing, was added to the US export blacklist, along with 25 other Chinese companies and two based in Singapore, as announced by the US Department of Commerce last Wednesday.

The measure is part of a series of commercial restrictions implemented in the final days of President Joe Biden’s term in office.

The US government accuses listed companies of contributing to Beijing’s military advance, which led to their inclusion on the Entity List.

Affected companies are prohibited from purchasing technology from American firms without special government approval.

In response, Zhipu AI stated that it “strongly disagrees” with the decision and claimed that the US action “lacks a factual basis”, in addition to stating that it “will not have a substantial impact” on its operations.

Another company mentioned was Sophgo, a Chinese chip designer, which had already come under scrutiny last year due to the compatibility of a chip it ordered from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) with a processor from Huawei Technologies. Huawei has been on the Entity List since 2019.

The updated list also includes PowerAIR, a little-known company based in Singapore. TSMC has severed business ties with PowerAIR after customer reviews indicated a possible violation of U.S. export controls, according to information from the South China Morning Post.

So far, Sophgo has not responded to requests for comment, and attempts to contact PowerAIR have been unsuccessful as the company does not have an official website, phone number or publicly available email address.

The inclusion of these companies on the blacklist highlights the growing trade and security tensions between the United States and China, in a context of strict export control policies implemented by Washington.