President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday banning US investment in some sectors of the Chinese semiconductor and artificial intelligence industries and restricting it in others, Reuters reports. The action is made in an effort to prevent American investment in Chinese efforts to improve military technology.
The order bans or restricts investment in Chinese companies operating in semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and certain artificial intelligence systems. The Treasury Department has a proposal available for public comment, and it will oversee enforcement of the order.
The Chinese tech sector was once a target for US venture capitalists, who invested more than $30 billion in Chinese-backed start-ups in 2021, only to see that amount drop to $9 billion last year.