A bipartisan group of lawmakers has urged the Commerce Department to find ways to protect U.S. photonic chip technologies from Chinese threats and competition.
In a letter dated Oct. 27, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said the technology “has the potential to upend the semiconductor industry and redefine battlelines” in China’s technological competition with the United States, “rendering moot” the Biden administration’s export control rules on chips and “creating a critical chokepoint for future semiconductor supply chains.”
The committee asked Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to consider investigating China-based leading photonics entities and imposing export controls on silicon photonics equipment and products….