By Greg Gao 

(JW Insights) Oct 18 -- Several of the 13 Chinese chip companies that have been placed on the "entity list" on October 17 by the US Department of Commerce immediately issued statements of "strong opposition" to the restrictions on their access to AI related technologies. They include Shanghai-based AI company Biren Technology, Beijing-based Cambricon and GPU startups Moore Threads Technology.

In an open letter, Biren Technology said it "strongly opposes the move by the US Department of Commerceis, will actively seek appeal against it.” It also emphased that its adherence to the laws and regulations of all nations and regions in which it operates. It is assessing how the incident will impact the company, handle reactions well and seek consultation with various parties. "

Founded in 2019, Shanghai-based Biren Technology mainly focuses on general-purpose computing systems, providing various intelligent computing solutions. The company has begun to lay out applications in AI large-scale models since it released its first Bili series OAM modules in 2022.

Moore Thread Technology is another company that released an open letter of “strong protest” to being included on the US Entity List. "Since its establishment, Moore thread has strictly complied with the laws and regulations of relevant countries and regions, always adhered to the legal and compliant corporate culture and management concepts, and established a sound export control compliance management system and work process guidelines," said the letter.

Moore Threads was founded in October 2020 and is headquartered in Beijing. It has an experienced team to design full-featured chips in GPU architecture with built-in computing cores of self-developed 3D graphics, AI training and reasoning, high-performance parallel computing, and ultra-high-definition video codec. 

Chinese AI chipmaker Cambricon representative responded to a press interview of the Sci-Tech Innovation Board Daily, saying that the company is further interpreting and analyzing the new US restrictions.

Founded in 2016, Cambricon has focused on core AI processors for cloud servers, edge computing equipment, and devices. The company went public on China’s Nasdaq-style STAR market in Shanghai in 2020.