US imposing new export controls on biotech tools over China considerations

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Commerce Division stated Wednesday it’s imposing new export controls on biotechnology tools and associated expertise due to nationwide safety considerations tied to synthetic intelligence and information science.

Washington has raised considerations that China might use U.S. expertise to strengthen army capabilities and assist design new weapons by AI. The division stated the laboratory tools may very well be used for “human efficiency enhancement, brain-machine interfaces, biologically-inspired artificial supplies, and presumably organic weapons.”

The brand new export controls, which limit shipments to China and different international locations with out a U.S. license, are for high-parameter movement cytometers and sure mass spectrometry tools, which Commerce stated can “generate high-quality, high-content organic information, together with that which is appropriate to be used to facilitate the event of AI and organic design instruments.”

That is the newest effort by Washington to limit U.S. expertise to China. On Monday, Commerce moved to additional limit AI chip and expertise exports from China geared toward serving to the USA keep its dominant standing in AI by controlling it around the globe.

U.S. lawmakers have been contemplating quite a few proposals to maintain Individuals’ private well being and genetic info from overseas adversaries and goal to push U.S. pharmaceutical and biotech corporations to minimize their reliance on China for every little thing from drug ingredient manufacturing to early analysis.

Final week, U.S. lawmakers referred to as on the Commerce Division to think about proscribing the export of U.S. biotechnology to the Chinese language army, citing considerations Beijing might weaponize it.

The Chinese language Embassy in Washington final week stated Beijing “firmly opposes any nation’s growth, possession or use of organic weapons.”

In August, U.S. lawmakers referred to as on the Meals and Drug Administration to ramp up scrutiny of U.S. scientific trials carried out in China, citing the chance of mental property theft and the potential of pressured participation of members of China’s Uyghur minority group.