The Chinese "trick" to access advanced American artificial intelligence through cloud services
It is noted that Washington has restricted the export of high-tech artificial intelligence chips to China in the past two years, citing the need to limit the Chinese military's capabilities in this area.
However, it turns out that providing access to such chips or advanced artificial intelligence models through the cloud does not violate US regulations, as only the export or transfer of a commodity, software, or technology is regulated.
Reuters gained access to more than 50 documents published last year in publicly available Chinese databases, revealing that at least 11 Chinese entities have requested access to "protected" US technologies or cloud services. Among them, four explicitly named AWS as the cloud service provider, although they accessed the services through Chinese intermediary companies and not directly from AWS.
The US government is now trying to tighten regulations to restrict Chinese access through the cloud.
Chinese organizations, directly linked to the Chinese government, are using cloud services provided by Amazon and other providers to access advanced American chips and artificial intelligence capabilities that they cannot otherwise obtain, according to documents cited in a Reuters report. It is noted that Washington has restricted the export of high-tech artificial intelligence chips to China in the past two years, citing the need to limit the Chinese military's capabilities in this area.
How a startup takes on the giants Amazon and Microsoft However, it turns out that providing access to such chips or advanced artificial intelligence models through the cloud does not violate US regulations, as only the export or transfer of a commodity, software, or technology is regulated.
Reuters gained access to more than 50 documents published last year in publicly available Chinese databases, revealing that at least 11 Chinese entities have requested access to "protected" US technologies or cloud services. Among them, four explicitly named AWS as the cloud service provider, although they accessed the services through Chinese intermediary companies and not directly from AWS.
The US government is now trying to tighten regulations to restrict Chinese access through the cloud
The documents reveal the range of strategies Chinese entities are using to secure advanced computing power and access AI production models. They also highlight how American companies are capitalizing on China's growing demand for computing power. "AWS complies with all applicable US laws, including trade laws, regarding the provision of AWS services within and outside of China," said a spokesperson for Amazon's cloud business regarding the Reuters report.
It is noted that AWS controls nearly one-third of the global cloud infrastructure market, according to research firm Canalys. In China, AWS is the sixth largest cloud service provider, according to research firm IDC. Shenzhen University spent 200,000 yuan ($27,996) on an AWS account to gain access to cloud servers powered by Nvidia A100 and H100 chips for an unspecified project, according to a March tender document. It received this service through an intermediary, Yunda Technology Ltd Co, according to the document. Exports to China of the two Nvidia chips, which are used to power large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT, have been banned by the US. Zhejiang Lab, a research institute developing its own LLM, GeoGPT, said in an April tender document that it intended to spend 184,000 yuan to purchase AWS cloud computing services, as its AI model could not get enough computing power from the domestic Alicloud (a branch of Alibaba).
Government intervention
The US government is now trying to tighten regulations to restrict access through the cloud. "This loophole has been a concern of ours for years, and we're long overdue in addressing it," Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters, referring to remote access to advanced US technologies through the cloud by foreign entities. Legislation was introduced in Congress in April to authorize the Commerce Department to regulate remote access to US technology, but it is unclear if and when it will be voted on.
The Commerce Department also proposed a rule in January that would require US cloud computing services to verify large AI model users and report to regulators when they use US cloud computing services to train large AI models capable of "malicious cyber-enabled activity." The rule, which has not been finalized, would also allow the Secretary of Commerce to impose bans on potential customers.
OpenAI said its own services are not supported in China
In the picture and Microsoft
Chinese entities are also seeking access to Microsoft's cloud services. In April, Sichuan University stated in a tender document that it was building an AI creation platform and purchasing 40 million Microsoft Azure OpenAI tokens to support the delivery of this project. The university's procurement document in May showed that Sichuan Xuedong Technology province provided the tokens. OpenAI said its own services are not supported in China and that Azure OpenAI operates in accordance with Microsoft's policies. The Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) stated in a March tender document that it wanted to rent 500 cloud servers, each powered by eight Nvidia A100 chips, for an unspecified purpose. The tender was fulfilled by Hefei Advanced Computing Centre Operation Management Co Ltd, according to a procurement document presented in April, but the cloud service provider is not named. USTC was added to a US export control list, known as the "Entity List," in May for acquiring US technology for quantum computers that could aid China's military and for participating in the development of its nuclear program. Service Advertising
Amazon has offered Chinese organizations access not only to advanced artificial intelligence chips but also to advanced artificial intelligence models, such as Anthropic's Claude, which they cannot otherwise access, according to public posts, offers, and marketing material reviewed by Reuters. In various Chinese-language posts for AWS developers and customers, Amazon highlighted the opportunity to try "world-class AI models" and mentioned the Chinese video game company Source Technology as one of its customers using Claude.
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