(Reuters) -The U.S. is considering unilateral restrictions on China’s access to AI memory chips such as those made by Micron Technology and South Korea’s SK Hynix and equipment capable of making such semiconductors, as soon as next month, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
The measures are meant to prevent Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung from suppling Chinese firms with high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips that are essential in helping run complex generative artificial intelligence programs, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The companies and the U.S. Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
If enacted, the new rule would capture HBM2 and more advanced chips including HBM3 and HBM3E, as well as the tools required to make them, the report said, adding that no final decision on the restrictions has been made.
HBM chips are needed to run AI semiconductors such as those sold by market leader Nvidia and aspiring competitor AMD.
Micron will be largely unaffected as the chipmaker has held back from exporting its HBM products to China after Beijing banned its memory chips from critical infrastructure in 2023, the report said.
(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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