FirstFT: US limits China’s access to advanced Nvidia chips

China has condemned a US move that threatens its access to high-end processors from American companies that are central to the most demanding artificial intelligence work, after Washington stepped up its efforts to restrict exports of cutting-edge technology to its trade and military rival.

US officials have told chipmaker Nvidia that it will need special licences to sell Chinese customers two of its processors that are widely used to speed up AI calculations, the company said in a filing on Wednesday.

The government is imposing the requirement on any products containing its A100 and forthcoming H100 graphical processing units. The processors are used as “accelerators” to speed up the most data-intensive parts of the machine learning calculations used in AI.

AMD, whose GPUs are also used as accelerators for AI calculations, said it had also been told that it would need to apply for licences in order to sell its most advanced accelerator, the MI250X, in China.

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Five more stories in the news

1. Taiwan shoots down suspected Chinese drone for first time The Taiwanese army said an unidentified commercial drone equipped with cameras intruded into restricted airspace over the waters around Shihyu, a Taiwan-controlled islet less than 4km from Chinese territory.

2. UN inspects Russian-held nuclear plant in Ukraine The UN’s atomic safety watchdog was able to inspect the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on Thursday, and said it would set up a “continued” presence at the site on the frontline of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The inspection followed several tense hours in which officials were held up in a front-line area as gunfire echoed from nearby battles.

3. China committed human rights violations in Xinjiang, UN finds The UN high commissioner for human rights has accused the Chinese government of committing “serious human rights violations” in its treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. The long-anticipated report said there was credible evidence of torture and gender-based violence in detention camps in the north-western region of China.

• Explainer: Following the UN report, some western governments, including the UK, have called for the UN to start a formal investigation of abuses in Xinjiang. Here’s what could happen next.

4. IMF reaches preliminary deal on $2.9bn Sri Lanka bailout The announcement yesterday, at the end of a week-long IMF mission, offered the first indication of a path out of insolvency for the country of 22mn, which has run out of cash and suffered crippling shortages of fuel and essentials this year.

5. China’s carbon emissions fall 8% as economic growth slows The fall in emissions in the April-to-June quarter compared with the same period last year marks the sharpest decline in the past decade, according to climate research service Carbon Brief. But it also reflects a dramatic slowing in Chinese economic growth caused by large-scale coronavirus lockdowns.

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The days ahead

US non-farm payroll data Figures are expected to show the US economy added 300,000 jobs last month, down from a five-month high of 528,000 in July, and that the unemployment rate is expected to remain at a historically low level of 3.5 per cent.

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Mikhail Gorbachev’s funeral Gorbachev is to be buried on Saturday at Moscow’s Novodevichy cemetery, the final resting place for hundreds of Russian dignitaries, alongside his wife Raisa, who died in 1999. President Vladimir Putin will not attend because of scheduling conflicts, the Kremlin has said.

What else we’re reading and listening to

China waits on ‘miracle’ to end zero-Covid policy Experts believe President Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy will continue into 2023 even as Xi’s relentless efforts to rid China of coronavirus are taking a huge economic toll. Officials are holding out for Chinese scientists to develop vaccine technology to stop coronavirus from spreading.

India’s bid to join the global semiconductor race India wants to take a step up the manufacturing value chain, with a high-stakes bid to begin making semiconductors. But to have any chance of achieving its goal, India will need to move exceptionally quickly and decisively.

Australia seeks to rival China on lithium production Australia’s first battery-grade lithium refinery, the largest outside China, has opened talks with electric vehicle makers as it seeks to meet surging demand from global automakers for the mineral. Global lithium supply is expected to triple in the next nine years, according to investment bank Barrenjoey.

Ai Weiwei’s a tribute to the ‘ultimate freedom’ The centrepiece of a new solo show in the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei entitled “La Commedia Umana”, has been assembled from more than 2,000 pieces of black Murano glass fashioned to replicate bones, organs and surveillance cameras. The result is a hypnotic, hanging ossuary that begs us to fight for our freedom before we die.

Why intellectual humility matters Intellectual humility can be thought of as a willingness to recognise our cognitive limitations and biases, and to be more interested in understanding the truth of an issue than in being right. A lack of it can make some people believe in conspiracy theories and false news reports, writes Jemima Kelly.

Science

The headlines this year have been dominated by war in Europe, soaring inflation and worries about climate change. But there has also been a series of remarkable breakthroughs in everything from microbiology to astronomy. The FT’s science desk has put together the top five stories this year.