The U.S. government has stopped Intel from supplying microprocessors for China's supercomputers, citing concerns on nuclear tests.
Four Chinese supercomputing institutions were placed on U.S. government list in February, banning certain exports from the U.S. One of the institutions included is China's National University of Defense Technology, which builds supercomputers Tianhe-1A and Tianhe-2, and TOP 500, the organization that monitors supercomputers around the globe, says these have been the most powerful machines in the world for the past 18 months.
Intel applied for a license so it can export thousands of chips needed to update Tianhe-2, but it was refused by the Department of Commerce due to concerns that nuclear research is being done with the computer. The agency alleged that the two supercomputers are used for "nuclear explosive activities."
Tianhe-2 requires 80,000 Intel Xeon chips for it to generate a computational capacity of over 33 petaflops. One petaflop is equivalent to approximately one quadrillion calculations per second.
The machine is due to be upgraded this year and this would largely depend on new Xeon chips made by Intel. The company has informed the authorities about its part in the upgrade program and was advised to apply for an export license.
"Intel complied with the notification and applied for the license, which was denied. We are in compliance with the U.S. law," Intel said.
For years, Intel has been supplying Xeon chips to supercomputers in China, and the refusal of the government to allow the company to do so is a blow to its business albeit the chipmaker has also signed a deal to build the Aurora supercomputer in Argonne National Laboratory. Once finished, the supercomputer is anticipated to generate 180 petaflops.
Intel has been China's major partner in its desire to build faster supercomputers, but the country also develops its own processors. The ban may possibly accelerate efforts to develop China's homegrown processors to complete the upgrade program.
This is not the first time the two countries have clashed over trade issues related to technology. Three years ago, a U.S. congressional committee said that Huawei and ZTE were a national threat because of the tech firms' alleged ties to the Chinese government.
In a notice published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the agency said that the four supercomputing institutions housing China's supercomputers were found to be "acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States."
Photo: Sam Churchill | Flickr
