The US government official has stated that Huawei, a Chinese tech giant, will face severe restrictions on its ability to produce artificial intelligence (AI) chips in 2025. American lawmakers expressed concerns about the progress of the Chinese Communist Party in the advanced semiconductor production field at a hearing, and this statement is in response to that.
On Thursday, June 12, Jeffrey Kessler, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Industry and Security at the US Department of Commerce, stated during a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee that Huawei is predicted to only produce 200,000 Ascend AI chips by 2025, with most chips being delivered domestically in China.
Data shows that China has a huge demand for advanced chips. According to market research firm TechInsights, the size of the Chinese AI accelerator market was about 1.5 million chips in 2024. In addition, China needs tens of millions of high-end chips for the production of Huawei and other domestic brand smartphones.
Kessler, responsible for overseeing the US Export Control Program, warned that the US “cannot have a false sense of security.” He said, “Although the production volume of these advanced chips in China is relatively small, we cannot be overly optimistic because we know they (the CCP) have global ambitions.”
Kessler also advocated for increasing funding for the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the Department of Commerce, doubling the enforcement funds for the export control program, hiring 200 export enforcement agents, and increasing the number of overseas export control officials from 12 to over 30.
Kessler said, “Now is the time to provide the resources needed for BIS to fulfill its responsibilities.”
David Sacks, the White House official in charge of AI and cryptocurrencies, said on Tuesday, June 10, that China is only 3 to 6 months behind the US in AI. The White House later clarified that Sacks was referring to China’s AI models and added that China’s AI chips lag behind their US counterparts by several years.
Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei told Chinese state media on Tuesday that his company’s chips are one generation behind American competitors, but they invest over $25 billion annually to improve performance.
This week, the US and China reached a trade framework agreement in London. President Trump hinted on his social media platform “Truth Social” on Wednesday that China must restart rare earth exports for the US to agree to lower export controls on critical technologies.
When asked about the negotiations by lawmakers, Kessler said he attended some of the talks in London but refused to disclose more details.
Democratic Congressman Greg Meeks expressed concern that the Trump administration was confusing US export controls with broader trade discussions. Kessler responded, “What I will say is that export controls have always been strict, and I have confidence they will continue to remain strong.”
(This article references relevant articles from Reuters and Bloomberg.)