The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security has added four Chinese companies to its “export blacklist” for their involvement in the purchase of artificial intelligence chips for the Chinese army. This was announced by Kevin Kurland, an export control official, during a hearing in the US Senate.

The specific Chinese companies added to the list are Linkzol Technology, Xi’an Like Innovative Information Technology, Beijing Anwise Technology, and Sitonholy (Tianjin).

The nuance is that Sitonholy is a provider of corporate solutions and cloud services from China. It sells hardware and offers cloud and gaming services based on Intel and NVIDIA technologies. As a result, US companies that cooperate with Sitonholy will now have to obtain an export license from the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.

Given that the Chinese industry is not ready to replace American technology with domestic products, this is a serious blow to Sitonholy. However, it is also a serious blow to American companies, as China is an important market for companies such as AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA.

Meanwhile, Sitonholy is not the only Chinese partner of American tech giants, but American companies still have to obtain export licenses from the US government.

In addition, the US has imposed restrictions on five other companies accused of aiding the production and purchase of drones used by Russia in Ukraine and Iranian-backed Houthis in attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Among the companies are Jiangxi Xintuo Enterprise and Shenzhen Jiasibo Technology, both of which have been linked to the military actions of Russia and Iran.

These developments come amid China’s increased military investment as President Xi Jinping seeks “world-class” weapons by 2050. The United States obviously sees this as a threat on a local and global scale.