Story perspectives

China proposes export controls on 23 AI technologies

By Drooid · Oct 16, 2026, 10:12 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

China’s Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology proposed adding 23 AI technologies to the export-control catalogue.
The draft excludes AI services delivered via APIs, websites, apps or SaaS platforms, permitting overseas offerings.
It would bar overseas deployment of AI models with at least 2 trillion parameters or world-leading capabilities.
Open-source AI releases and academic papers are exempt from the new controls.
It adds technologies for AI and memory chips, five biomedical and twelve solar items, expanding the list to 40 categories.

History

Historical Context

When the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security added high-performance computers to the Export Administration Regulations in 1999, it listed roughly 2,000 supercomputers and flagged $1.5 billion of export value, marking the first major post-Cold-War clampdown on dual-use tech. That precedent underpins today’s China-led 2024 AI-model restrictions and prompts the Wassenaar Arrangement to consider AI-specific amendments.

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Story summary

China’s Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology proposed adding 23 AI technologies to the export-control catalogue.
The draft excludes AI services delivered via APIs, websites, apps or SaaS platforms, permitting overseas offerings.
It would bar overseas deployment of AI models with at least 2 trillion parameters or world-leading capabilities.
Open-source AI releases and academic papers are exempt from the new controls.
It adds technologies for AI and memory chips, five biomedical and twelve solar items, expanding the list to 40 categories.

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