Microsoft warns US government that data centres could halt over import ban
The software giant is lobbying against a proposed ban on Chinese optical transceivers alongside the Information Technology Industry Council.
Microsoft has warned the White House that data centres across America could come to a halt if a proposed import ban on Chinese optical transceivers is passed, according to a Reuters report cited by the Times of India.
The company is lobbying against the move alongside the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). Microsoft is currently building 35 data centres across the country and plans to build 134 more.
ITI Executive Vice President of Policy and General Counsel John Miller said the ban threatens to grind the data centre rollout to a halt. Miller stated that AI chips could sit unutilised without optical transceivers to connect them together.
Optical transceivers convert electrical signals into light signals for data to travel through fibre-optic cables. Chinese companies account for 66 per cent of the global optical transceiver market.
A ban on Chinese suppliers is expected to cut the available supply by more than half. While US-based companies Coherent and Lumentum produce these devices, they do not have the scale to meet the shortfall.
A Tom’s Hardware report stated there are concerns that Beijing could compromise some transceivers to steal data, install malware, or disrupt American data centres, which is why the FCC is considering the ban.
