Republican lawmakers have expressed their discontent with the Joe Biden-led administration after the tech giant Huaweia major Chinese telecommunications company, has unveiled a new laptop powered by a Intel Corp. INTC AI chips.
What happened: The inauguration of MateBook, Huawei’s first AI-enabled laptop, has drawn criticism from Republican lawmakers, Reuters reported. The laptop is powered by new Intel NucleoUltra 9 processor.
Despite being placed on a trade restriction list in 2019, Huawei was able to continue to receive Intel chips for its laptops under a special license issued by Donald Trump administration in 2020. This license will expire later this year, and many predict it will not be renewed.
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Representative. Elisa Stefanik (R-Ariz.) Thursday, took a Xpreviously Twitterand expressed his concerns, saying that the release of the laptop indicates that the Commerce Department has approved shipments of the new chip to Huawei.
He said: “It is unacceptable that the Biden administration is actively working to undermine US national security by allowing our largest strategic adversary access to cutting-edge American technology.”
Representative. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) echoed Stefanik’s sentiments, saying, “These approvals must stop,” adding, “Two years ago, I was told that licensing to Huawei would be stopped. Today it doesn’t seem like politics has changed.”
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The report cites a source familiar with the matter as saying the chips were distributed under an existing license. According to the source and another individual, these chips fall outside the scope of recent widespread restrictions on shipping AI chips to China.
Because matter: The Biden administration has been under pressure to take a tougher stance on Huawei and other Chinese technology companies. Earlier this year, the administration was considering blacklisting several Chinese semiconductor companies linked to Huawei, a move that could have significant implications for the global tech industry.
As of the restrictions on September 15, 2020, US companies have been banned from supplying products or providing services to Huawei. The United States has expressed concern that China could potentially gain a competitive advantage through its 5G technology.
However, despite ongoing tensions between the United States and China, American chipmakers such as Intel continue to maintain a significant presence in the Chinese market, and Beijing remains a crucial market for these companies.
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