Biden Calls Chinese Electric Vehicles a Security Threat

President Biden took steps on Thursday toward blocking internet-connected Chinese cars and trucks from entry to the American auto market, including electric vehicles, saying they posed risks to national security because their operating systems could send sensitive information to Beijing. The immediate action was the opening of a Commerce Department investigation into security threats, which could lead to new regulations or restrictions on Chinese vehicles. But administration officials made clear it was the first step in what could be a wide range of policy responses meant to stop low-cost Chinese…

The Next Front in the U.S.-China Battle Over Chips

NASA has chosen the technology to help it land future spacecraft on unmapped planets. Meta uses the technology for artificial intelligence. Chinese engineers have turned to it to encrypt data. And it could represent the next front in the semiconductor trade war between the United States and China. The technology is RISC-V, pronounced “risk five.” It evolved from a university computer lab in California to a foundation for myriad chips that handle computing chores. RISC-V essentially provides a kind of common language for designing processors that are found in devices…

A.I. Giant Tied to China Under Scrutiny

A U.S. congressional committee has asked the Commerce Department to look into whether a giant technology company controlled by the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates should be put under trade restrictions because of its ties to China. The company, G42, specializes in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, and is overseen by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the national security adviser of the Emirates and a younger brother of the country’s ruler. It has signed recent agreements with prominent American technology companies, including Microsoft, Dell and OpenAI. A Silicon…

Asian American Officials Cite Unfair Scrutiny and Lost Jobs in China Spy Tensions

When Thomas Wong set foot in the United States Embassy in Beijing this summer for a new diplomatic posting, it was vindication after years of battling the State Department over a perceived intelligence threat — himself. Diplomatic Security officers had informed him when he joined the foreign service more than a decade ago that they were banning him from working in China. In a letter, he said, they wrongly cited the vague potential for undue “foreign preference” and suggested he could be vulnerable to “foreign influence.” Mr. Wong had become…

Lawmakers Press Biden Administration for Tougher Curbs on China Tech

Republican lawmakers are faulting the Biden administration’s enforcement of restrictions on China’s access to American technology, saying that the administration is still allowing semiconductors and other American innovation to flow to Beijing that could ultimately aid China in a military conflict. In a report released on Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee said the administration had failed to enforce export controls that limit sales of advanced technology to China. The federal government has been steadily ramping up limits on sales to China of advanced chips and chip-making equipment over the…

U.S. Tightens China’s Access to A.I. Chips

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced additional limits on sales of advanced semiconductors by American firms, shoring up restrictions issued last October to limit China’s progress on supercomputing and artificial intelligence. The rules appear likely to halt most shipments of advanced semiconductors from the United States to Chinese data centers, which use them to produce models capable of artificial intelligence. More U.S. companies seeking to sell China advanced chips, or the machinery used to make them, will be required to notify the government of their plans, or obtain a special…

Samsung and SK Hynix Get U.S. Waivers From Export Curbs

The South Korean government said on Monday that the country’s semiconductor manufacturers have secured waivers from U.S. government rules that threatened to limit their businesses in China. At issue is the continuation of licenses granted last year by the U.S. Commerce Department to Samsung and SK Hynix, the two dominant South Korean chip makers. The licenses effectively suspended 2022 controls on exports of semiconductors and chip making equipment to China. South Korea, an ally in America’s chip war with China, relies heavily on its semiconductor sector for jobs and revenue.…

Chinese Hackers Stole 60,000 State Dept. Emails in Breach Reported in July

Chinese hackers who gained access to the email accounts of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and other government officials this year stole 60,000 emails from the State Department alone, according to two people familiar with a briefing Senate staff members received on the matter Wednesday. The emails came from 10 State Department email accounts, department officials told Senate staff members, according to the people familiar with the briefing, one of whom is a staff member for Senator Eric Schmitt, Republican of Missouri. Nine of the 10 email accounts belonged to people…

China Is Full of Risk For U.S. Companies

For decades, America’s corporate chieftains saw China as a money spinner. They gushed about its hundreds of millions of consumers, called it “one of the biggest opportunities” and made predictions that this would be “China’s century.” Now, those executives have come away from recent visits to the country with a more sober view. Western companies doing business in China are facing pressures that were unimaginable several years ago. The country’s economy is floundering and its relationship with the United States is strained. Three years of border restrictions and an effective…

Huawei Phone Is Latest Shot Fired in the U.S.-China Tech War

In the midst of the U.S. commerce secretary’s good will tour to China last week, Huawei, the telecom giant that faces stiff U.S. trade restrictions, unveiled a smartphone that illustrated just how hard it has been for the United States to clamp down on China’s tech prowess. The new phone is powered by a chip that appears to be the most advanced version of China’s homegrown technology to date — a kind of achievement that the United States has been trying to prevent China from reaching. The timing of its…