The Trump administration is planning to restrict the sale of key artificial intelligence chips to Malaysia and Thailand as part of an effort to block China’s access to such chips through intermediaries in Southeast Asia, Bloomberg reported. The Commerce Department is working on draft export rules for Malaysia and Thailand to crack down on suspected smuggling of Nvidia’s AI chips into China, the report said, adding that the rules aren’t yet finalized and could still change. It is unclear whether the administration would consider similar restrictions for more countries beyond Malaysia and Thailand. While the U.S. already restricts the export of advanced AI chips to China, Chinese companies have found ways to gain access to the banned chips. Smuggling of Nvidia chips into China has become an organized, multinational enterprise involving brokers and shell companies in Southeast Asia, as The Information last year reported. Chinese companies have also been using Nvidia’s advanced AI chips overseas by renting servers at data centers in Southeast Asia that are equipped with such chips. https://www.bloomberg.com.. #🇨🇳 ChinA.I. 🤖🧠🦾🤖