Microsoft and other companies and trade groups have pressed President Donald Trump’s administration in Washington to halt a planned restriction on Chinese optical transceivers used in AI data centres, Reuters reported on 11 November, citing three people familiar with the effort.
Key points
- The administration was reported in August to be seeking an import ban on new models of Chinese optical transceivers.
- The companies argue that a ban would slow US data centre construction and damage the country’s position in AI relative to China.
- Cleanview counts 35 Microsoft data centres under construction in the US and another 134 planned.
Chinese transceivers and the August plan
Optical transceivers carry data over the fibre-optic cables inside data centres. The administration was reported in August to be seeking a ban on US imports of new models from China over concerns that Beijing could use the components to steal data, install malware or interrupt service at American facilities.
The proposed restriction would affect the components companies use to connect equipment within data centres. Microsoft and the other companies and trade groups have urged the administration to stop it, according to the three people familiar with the effort.
Microsoft’s 35 data centres under construction
The companies argue that an import ban could further delay the US data centre rollout and irreparably damage the country’s advantage over China in AI, the people said. That is the case they are putting to the administration, rather than an assessed effect of the proposed restriction.
Cleanview, a market intelligence company that tracks data centre development, counts 35 Microsoft data centres under construction in the US and another 134 planned.
