The US President restricts investment in Chinese tech companies

The US President, Joe Biden, signed an executive order which restricts investment in specific types of Chinese tech firms. Why? Well, national security is cited, as there are certain risks present.

The US President signed an executive order that restricts investment in Chinese tech firms

This executive order is aimed at companies that handle “sensitive technologies”. Companies that handle semiconductors, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence.

This is what it says in the executive order itself: “Advancements in sensitive technologies and products in these sectors will accelerate the development of advanced computational capabilities that will enable new applications that pose significant national security risks, such as the development of more sophisticated weapons systems, breaking of cryptographic codes, and other applications that could provide these countries with military advantages”.

The White House says that this move is “narrowly targeted”. It’s supposed to restrict investments in specific companies, the ones that handle sensitive tech, as previously stated. One thing to note is that this order won’t go into effect until next year.

When we see China-related restrictions, Huawei does come to mind

Now, this is not the first time the US decided to impose such restrictions when China is concerned. Not even close. The best example is probably Huawei, whose business was damaged by the US ban.

Huawei is not allowed to use Google services on its phones, and it also doesn’t have access to 5G processors at the moment. There were several waves of bans regarding the company, and that has been going on for years.

Having said that, the White House also limited the sale of supercomputing technology to Chinese firms. Those are just some examples. It seems like a lot is going on behind the scenes when it comes to the US and China.

It remains to be seen what will the future bring. Tech companies are starting to rely heavily on AI, and its development is in full swing. Such tech could increase (national) security concerns.