MOSCOW, Oct. 6 Representatives of the US legislative branch are calling on the administration of President Joe Biden to ban American companies from working on open-source RISC-V processor technology because they are concerned that American developments could go to hand to China, Reuters reported on Friday, citing members of the US House of Representatives.
The open instruction set and architecture technology for RISC-V processors was developed at the University of California and later received funding from the Pentagon. It can be used in any technical device, from smartphones to artificial intelligence, the agency notes. The technology is supervised by a Swiss foundation that coordinates the efforts of commercial firms to develop this technology.
«The Chinese Communist Party is maliciously using RISC-V to circumvent the US superiority in (ownership — ed.) intellectual property necessary for the production of chips,» the head of US House Foreign Policy Committee Michael McCaul.
According to McCall, US citizens should not help China develop technologies aimed at circumventing economic sanctions. He added that he wants to get concrete steps from the US Department of Commerce, but if they are not followed, he promised to take up the relevant legislation himself.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner also called for changes in export laws, but noted that in the case of RISC-V, difficulties may arise. «I fear that our export laws are not equipped to deal with the challenge of open source software, whether in the areas of advanced RISC-V semiconductors or artificial intelligence,» he told the agency.
At the same time, representatives of American business are concerned about a potential ban on the development of RISC-V.
«This will be a big mistake in technology, leadership and innovation,» Jack Kang, vice president of semiconductor company SiFive, told the agency.
On Monday, official Washington informed Beijing of its intention to once again tighten control standards for the export of artificial intelligence chips and tools for their production to China, Reuters reported, citing an American official.
The head of the US Department of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, said in September that Washington is committed to ensuring that the Chinese military does not gain access to advanced American technologies and subsequently use them against the United States itself.