美國著眼於將中國技術禁令擴大到量子計算和人工智能

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

US Eyes Expanding China Tech Ban to Quantum Computing and AI

Anna Edgerton, Ian King, Eric Martin and Saleha Mohsin

Fri, October 21, 2022 at 10:16 a.m.

(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration is exploring the possibility of new export controls that would limit China’s access to some of the most powerful emerging computing technologies, according to people familiar with the situation.

The potential plans, which are in an early stage, are focused on the still-experimental field of quantum computing, as well as artificial intelligence software, according to the people, who asked not to be named discussing private deliberations. Industry experts are weighing in on how to set the parameters of the restrictions on this nascent technology, they said.

The efforts, if implemented, would follow separate restrictions announced earlier this month aimed at stunting Beijing’s ability to deploy cutting-edge semiconductors in weapons and surveillance systems.

Technology stocks in China fell on Friday, with equipment-makers Naura Technology Group Co. and ACM Research Shanghai Inc. tumbling as much as 6.1% and 8.7% respectively. Piotech Inc. dropped as much as 13%.

The US has ramped up actions to stifle China’s ability to develop certain technologies that it sees as key in the competition with its top strategic rival. The sweeping regulations released earlier this month also limited how US citizens and residents participate in Chinese tech firms.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which plays a key role in designing and enforcing export controls and announced the semiconductor restrictions on Oct. 7, declined to comment. The White House National Security Council isn’t aware of discussions on such additional controls, according to a spokesperson.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in a speech last month on technology, competitiveness and national security, referred to “computing-related technologies, including microelectronics, quantum information systems and artificial intelligence” as among developments “set to play an outsized importance over the coming decade.” He also noted the importance of export controls to “maintain as large of a lead as possible” over adversaries.

Expanding the wall around advanced technologies risks further antagonizing China and forcing other countries to pick sides between the world’s two top economies. The new ideas have been shared with US allies, according to the people.

Powerful Potential

Quantum computing is an experimental field with the potential to dramatically increase the power and speed of computing, enabling machines to solve problems beyond the capacity of the current generation of computers.

It’s expected to someday upend computer-security technology, as quantum machines could be powerful enough to decode passwords and circumvent encryption security features.

Officials are still determining how to frame the controls on quantum computing, which will probably focus on the level of output and the so-called error correction rate, the people said.

Companies including Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Intel Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. are devoting millions of research dollars to various quantum projects.

While conventional computers interpret data in “ones” and “zeros,” a quantum machine can store information in multiple states -- as one, zero, both or something in between -- a principle known as “superposition.” That allows a quantum system to multitask in ways today’s binary equipment can’t.

A normal computer looking for a name in a phone book cataloged by numbers, for instance, would search one number at a time. A quantum computer could scan all of them simultaneously.

The biggest challenge, however, is that existing quantum systems typically require exotic cooling mechanisms to generate the super-cold temperatures required to manipulate and detect quantum states of sub-atomic particles.

The Biden administration is also working on an executive order for an outbound investment review mechanism that would scrutinize money heading to certain Chinese technologies, and the quantum computing and artificial intelligence controls could be included, one of the people said. That could incorporate some aspects similar to a measure pushed by senators Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, and John Cornyn, a Texas Republican.

Translation

（彭博社）- 據知情人士透露，拜登政府正在探索新的出口管制的可能性，以限制中國獲得一些最強大的新興計算技術。

要求不具名私人討論的知情人士表示, 這些潛在計劃處於早期階段，主要集中在仍處於試驗階段的量子計算以及人工智能軟件領域。他們說，行業專家正在權衡如何設置對這項新興技術的限制範圍。

這些企圖如果實施，將遵循本月早些時候宣布的旨在阻礙北京在武器和監視系統中部署尖端半導體的能力的單一限制。

中國科技股週五下跌，設備製造商 Naura Technology Group Co. 和 ACM Research Shanghai Inc. 分別下跌 6.1% 和 8.7%。 Piotech Inc. 跌幅高達 13%。

美國加大了行動力度，以扼殺中國開發某些技術的能力，它認為這些技術是與最大戰略對手競爭的關鍵。本月早些時候發布的全面法規也限制了美國公民和居民怎樣參與中國科技公司。

美國商務部工業和安全局在設計和執行出口管制方面發揮著關鍵作用，並於 10 月 7 日宣布了半導體限制措施，但拒作出絕置評。據一位發言人稱，白宮國家安全委員會不知道有關此類額外控制的討論。

國家安全顧問 Jake Sullivan 上個月在一個關於技術、競爭力和國家安全的演講中提到 “與計算相關的技術，包括微電子、量子信息系統和人工智能” 這類發展 “將在未來十年發揮巨大的作用”。他還指出出口管制令使與對手 “保持盡可能大的領先優勢” 的重要性。

圍繞先進技術擴大圍牆可能會進一步激怒中國，並迫使其他國家在世界兩大經濟體之間選邊站。知情人士說，這些新想法已與美國盟友分享。

強大的潛力

量子計算是一個實驗領域，具有顯著提高計算能力和速度的潛力，能使機器的可夠解決問題的能力超出當前一代的電腦。

預計有一天它會顛覆電腦安全技術，因為量子機器可能強大到足以解碼密碼並繞過加密安全功能。

知情人士說，官員們仍在確定如何制定對量子計算的控制，這可能會集中在輸出水平和所謂的糾正錯誤率上。

包括微軟公司、Alphabet Inc. 的谷歌、英特爾公司和國際商業機器公司在內的公司正在將數百萬美元的研究資金投入到各種量子項目中。

雖然傳統計算機以 “一” 和 “零” 來解釋數據，但量子機器可以用多種狀態存儲信息 -  一、零、兩者或兩者之間的某種狀態 - 這一原理被稱為“疊加”。這使得量子系統能夠以當今二進制設備無法做到的方式進行多任務處理。

例如，一台普通計算機在按數字編目的電話簿中查找姓名時，會一次搜索一個號碼。一台量子計算機可以同時掃描所有號碼。

然而，最大的挑戰是現有的量子系統通常需要異常的冷卻機制來產生超冷溫度以應付操縱和檢測亞原子粒子的量子態所需。

其中一位知情人士說，拜登政府還在製定一項對外投資審查機制的行政命令，該機制將審查流向某些中國技術的資金，可能包括量子計算和人工智能控制。這可能包含類似於賓夕法尼亞州民主黨參議員Bob Casey和德克薩斯州共和黨參議員John Cornyn所推動的某些措施。

So, the US is trying new export controls that would limit China’s access to some of the most powerful emerging computing technologies such as quantum computing as well as artificial intelligence software. According to China leaders' theory and belief, they can develop their computing technologies on their own and they will try even harder in face of challenges.