The U.S. Department of Commerce has added dozens of Chinese tech companies to its export blacklist, intensifying efforts to limit China’s access to advanced AI and computing technologies.
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Industry and Security added 80 organizations to the “entity list,” including more than 50 Chinese firms, restricting American companies from supplying them without special government approval.
This move marks the first such action under the Trump administration’s renewed strategy, designed to prevent China from enhancing its military capabilities through advanced technologies like exascale computing and quantum tech. The Commerce Department cited national security and foreign policy concerns as key reasons for the blacklisting, particularly the role these companies play in developing AI, supercomputers, and high-performance chips with military applications.
The list includes companies involved in providing critical technologies to Chinese entities such as Huawei and its chip-making affiliate HiSilicon, which have been previously sanctioned by the U.S. government. Among the newly blacklisted entities are 27 Chinese firms accused of acquiring U.S. technology to support China’s military modernization, and seven others involved in advancing China’s quantum capabilities.
The move also targets Chinese cloud-computing giant Inspur Group, whose subsidiaries were blacklisted by the Biden administration in 2023. The Chinese government has strongly condemned the export restrictions, accusing the U.S. of politicizing national security.
Alex Capri, a senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore, remarked that these latest measures expand the U.S. government’s focus to include third-party countries and intermediaries, who have been used by Chinese firms to bypass export controls. He pointed out that U.S. authorities are ramping up efforts to track the illicit flow of advanced semiconductors, particularly from companies like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.
The expanded export restrictions are being imposed amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China, particularly over trade policies and technological competition. The growing success of Chinese AI startups like DeepSeek, which is pushing open-source AI models in China, has increased pressure on U.S. companies with higher-cost, proprietary models.
Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, Jeffrey I. Kessler, stated that the new restrictions are designed to send a “clear, resounding message” that the U.S. will not allow its technologies to be misused for military purposes that could threaten national security. “The entity list is one of many powerful tools at our disposal to identify and cut off foreign adversaries seeking to exploit American technology for malign purposes,” he added.
