Uncle Sam wants to ban Chinese data-centre optical kit before AI warehouses become another Huawei-shaped hangover.
The Trump administration is drafting a ban on US imports of new Chinese data-centre components. According to Reuters the move is meant to protect the plumbing behind the AI boom before it gets stuffed with kit Washington later regrets.
The Federal Communications Commission, which oversees the US telecom industry, is working on a measure to bar imports of new Chinese optical transceivers.
These are the little bits of networking gear that let data belt along fibre-optic cables inside data centres at the speed of light. Officials hope to publish the rule this year, when it would take effect.
The unreported move aims to stop Chinese firms stealing data, installing malware or disrupting service at US data centres. Those data centres house the chips used to train and run AI models, which explains why everyone in Washington has suddenly discovered supply chains again.
The FCC could still alter or shelve the restriction, the sources said, which is Beltway code for “the lobbying has only just begun.”
Beacon Global Strategies, AI policy expert Divyansh Kaushik, said: “Transceivers definitely pose a risk. As the data centre buildout scales up, you want to make sure the data centre supply chain is secure from the get-go.”
Shares in US-based transceiver makers rose after the news. Lumentum climbed seven per cent, Coherent jumped 11 per cent, and Applied Optoelectronics rose 18 per cent.
The Chinese embassy in Washington said Beijing urged the US to “heed the objective and rational voices of the business communities in both countries and stop smearing Chinese companies and threatening them with sanctions.”
“China will take all necessary measures in response to any action that causes material harm to its interests,” the embassy added.
A US ban on new Chinese data-centre devices would likely hit Zhongji Innolight, one of the world’s biggest sellers of transceivers. The Pentagon added Innolight to its list of alleged Chinese military-backed companies in June.
A ban could raise costs for American cloud outfits such as Amazon Web Services. It may force them to move to other producers, including US-based Coherent and Lumentum.
China hawks in the administration want to avoid another Huawei mess. The heavily sanctioned Chinese telecom supplier became so deeply embedded in US infrastructure that removing it was slow, expensive and incomplete.
