Chinese Chip Startup Shows Key Gap in Biden Export Curbs

Shanghai-based Biren, founded in 2019, made bold claims in the summer about its chips outperforming Nvidia’s market-leading A100 AI accelerator — the very product that can no longer be sold in China. But after reviewing the designs, TSMC and Biren concluded that the specs of the Chinese chip don’t meet the criteria for restriction, according to one of the people, who asked not to be named discussing a sensitive matter. That suggests Washington’s controls may not capture all alternatives to Nvidia’s hardware.