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Tech war: US sanctions on Biren and Moore Threads strike strong blow to China’s GPU champions
- Washington’s move signals a further blockade on China’s development of AI chips, according to analysts
- To survive, Biren and Moore Threads will now have to double down on their efforts to seek self-sufficiency
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Ann Caoin Shanghai
Biren Technology and Moore Threads, two of China’s best hopes in challenging Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices in the field of graphics processors, have been dealt a heavy blow by new US trade sanctions, as Washington moves to further frustrate China’s progress in artificial intelligence (AI), according to industry insiders and analysts.
Thirteen Chinese entities “involved in the development of advanced computing chips”, including Biren, Moore Threads and their mainland subsidiaries, were added to Washington’s so-called Entity List on Tuesday, potentially barring their access to advanced foundries and US chip design software.
The list, published by the US Department of Commerce, already includes Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies and the country’s top memory chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co.
Washington’s decision to target Biren and Moore Threads, along with updated export controls prohibiting the export of chips tailor-made by Nvidia and Intel for the mainland Chinese market, have intensified tensions between China and the US.
Both of the newly sanctioned Chinese companies have clear ties to the US: Biren was founded in Shanghai in 2019 by Wall Street veteran and Harvard Law School graduate Michael Zhang Wen, while Beijing-based Moore Threads was established in 2020 by Zhang Jianzhong, former general manager of Nvidia’s China business.
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