They work 24/7 at high speeds and get searingly hot - but data centre computer chips get plenty of pampering. Some of them basically live at the spa. We'll have fluid that comes up and [then] shower down, or trickle down, onto a component, says Jonathan Ballon, chief executive at liquid cooling firm Iceotope. Some things will get sprayed. In other cases, the industrious gizmos recline in circulating baths of fluid, which ferries away the heat they generate, enabling them to function at very high speeds, known as overclocking.

Why is AI making computers and games consoles more expensive? The latest commodity coveted by the AI industry is computer memory, and the sector is signing deals directly with manufacturers for billions of dollars worth of chips - the very same chips that consumers use in smartphones, laptops and games consoles. At best, this is driving up prices, and at worst, it is causing shortages that limit production. Why does AI need so much memory? AI models are very, very big.

China's rare earth restrictions aim to beat U.S. at its own game Magnetic slices made from rare earth metals. Beijing last week announced a sweeping set of rules that are set to restrict the flow of rare earths worldwide. WASHINGTON - Over the past three years, Washington has claimed broad power to impose global rules that bar companies anywhere in the world from sending cutting-edge computer chips or the tools needed to make them to China. U.S. officials have argued that approach is necessary to make sure China does not gain the upper hand in the race for advanced artificial intelligence. But a sweeping set of restrictions announced by Beijing last week showed that two can play that game.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says the technology giant has won approval from United States President Donald Trump's administration to sell its advanced H20 computer chips, used to develop artificial intelligence, to China. The news came in a company blog post late on Monday, and Huang also spoke about the coup on China's state-run CGTN television network in remarks shown on X. "The US government has assured Nvidia that licences will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon," the post said. "Today, I'm announcing that the US government has approved for us filing licences to start shipping H20s," Huang told reporters in Beijing. He noted that half of the world's AI researchers are in China. "It's so innovative and dynamic here in China that it's really important that American companies are able to compete and serve the market here in China," he said.

Even as he's vowed to push the United States ahead in artificial intelligence research, President Donald Trump's threats to alter federal government contracts with chipmakers and slap new tariffs on the semiconductor industry may put new speed bumps in front of the tech industry. Since taking office, Trump has said he would place tariffs on foreign production of computer chips and semiconductors in order to return chip manufacturing to the U.S. The president and Republican lawmakers have also threatened to end the CHIPS and Science Act, a sweeping Biden administration-era law that also sought to boost domestic production. But economic experts have warned that Trump's dual-pronged approach could slow, or potentially harm, the administration's goal of ensuring that the U.S. maintains a competitive edge in artificial intelligence research. Saikat Chaudhuri, an expert on corporate growth and innovation at U.C. Berkeley's Haas School of Business, called Trump's derision of the CHIPS Act surprising because one of the biggest bottlenecks for the advancement of AI has been chip production. Most countries, Chaudhuri said, are trying to encourage chip production and the import of chips at favorable rates.

The Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek has rattled markets with claims that its latest AI model, R1, performs on a par with those of OpenAI, despite using less advanced computer chips and consuming less energy. DeepSeek's emergence has raised concerns that China may have overtaken the U.S. in the artificial intelligence race despite restrictions on its access to the most advanced chips. Like the U.S., China is investing billions into artificial intelligence. Last week, it created a 60 billion yuan ( 8.2 billion) AI investment fund, days after the U.S. imposed fresh chip export restrictions. Beijing has also invested heavily in the semiconductor industry to build its capacity to make advanced computer chips, working to overcome limits on its access to those of industry leaders.

One week ago, a new and formidable challenger for OpenAI's throne emerged. A Chinese AI start-up, DeepSeek, launched a model that appeared to match the most powerful version of ChatGPT but, at least according to its creator, was a fraction of the cost to build. The program, called DeepSeek-R1, has incited plenty of concern: Ultrapowerful Chinese AI models are exactly what many leaders of American AI companies feared when they, and more recently President Donald Trump, have sounded alarms about a technological race between the United States and the People's Republic of China. This is a "wake up call for America," Alexandr Wang, the CEO of Scale AI, commented on social media. But at the same time, many Americans--including much of the tech industry--appear to be lauding this Chinese AI.

The outgoing administration of United States President Joe Biden is proposing a new framework for the export of advanced computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence, an attempt to balance national security concerns about the technology with the economic interests of producers and other countries. But the framework proposed Monday also raised concerns of chip industry executives who said the rules would limit access to existing chips used for video games and restrict in 120 countries the chips used for data centres and AI products. Mexico, Portugal, Israel and Switzerland are among the nations that could have limited access. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a call with reporters previewing the framework that it's "critical" to preserve America's leadership in AI and the development of AI-related computer chips. Fast-evolving AI technology enables computers to produce novels, make scientific research breakthroughs, automate driving and foster a range of other transformations that could reshape economies and warfare.

The Biden administration is proposing a new framework for the exporting of the advanced computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence, an attempt to balance national security concerns about the technology with the economic interests of producers and other countries. But the framework proposed Monday also raised concerns of chip industry executives who say the rules would limit access to existing chips used for video games and restrict in 120 countries the chips used for data centers and AI products. Mexico, Portugal, Israel and Switzerland are among the nations that could have limited access. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a call with reporters previewing the framework that it's "critical" to preserve America's leadership in AI and the development of AI-related computer chips. The fast-evolving AI technology enables computers to produce novels, make scientific research breakthroughs, automate driving and foster a range of other transformations that could reshape economies and warfare.

Leaders in the tech industry are urging the Biden administration not to add a new regulation that will limit artificial intelligence exports, citing concerns it is overbroad and could diminish the United States' global dominance in AI. The new rule, which industry leaders say could come as early as the end of this week, effectively seeks to shore up the U.S. economy and national security efforts by adding new restrictions on how many U.S.-made artifical intelligence products can be deployed across the globe. "A rule of this nature would cede the global market to U.S. competitors who will be eager to fill the untapped demand created by placing arbitrary constraints on U.S. companies' ability to sell basic computing systems overseas," stated a Monday letter from Jason Oxman, the president and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), sent to Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo. "Should the U.S. lose its advantage in the global AI ecosystem, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to regain in the future." FBI'S NEW WARNING ABOUT AI-DRIVEN SCAMS THAT ARE AFTER YOUR CASH The process to place new export controls on artificial intelligence goes back to October 2022, when the Biden administration's Commerce Department first released an updated export framework aimed at slowing the progress of Chinese military programs. Details of the new incoming export controls surfaced after the Biden administration called on American tech company NVIDIA to stop selling certain computer chips to China the following month.