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>to figure out what was an acceptable level for the exports they do But that is exactly what they did. The acceptable level of exports is whatever the law says

>to figure out what was an acceptable level for the exports they do But that is exactly what they did. The acceptable level of exports is whatever the law says it is and Nvidia followed the law. "to get around US export restrictions" is just a sneaky way of saying "to comply with US export restrictions".

SenHeng 3y ago
There's following the letter of the law, then there's following the spirit of the law. This is when being a robot isn't helpful.
- ben_w 3y ago
  You could equally well argue that it's the government's fault for not expressing the spirit they intended into the letters they wrote.
  - SenHeng 3y ago
    Language is ambiguous. That's why we have judges.
    - Kbelicius 3y ago
      Numbers aren't ambiguous.
- BLKNSLVR 3y ago
  Yes, true, but the idiom "the law is an ass" doesn't exist for no reason. Politics created the rules; drew the line beyond which is "bad". Nvidia stayed under the line so as to comply with the rules, and yet "politics" still doesn't like it.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- leovingi 3y ago
  Do you pay the exact amount of tax you owe to the government, or do you always add a bit of extra on top to comply with the "spirit of the law"?
SilverBirch 3y ago
That's not what happens. What happens is that the government comes out with something like "Hey, we don't want you to sell AI chips to China". Then with some beauracratic process - which almost certainly involves consulting with chip manufacturers - invents a set of rules get drawn. Then nVidia produce a SKU of their chip (note: not a new chip, a variant of one that clearly breaches the rules) that exactly matches the letter of regulation, but not the intent of the regulation. Now, the reasonable thing to do as the regulator - is to acknowledge that the company you were asking for compliance from is acting in a hostile manner and modify the regulation to punitively clamp down on everything they're doing. What I'm saying is that if I were the US in this situation I would be happily inviting nVidia to comply with the new rules that allows them to export anything above 100nm. Nvidia had their shot at meeting the regulation - the spirit not the letter, they blew it, they can live with the consequences.

SenHeng 3y ago

There's following the letter of the law, then there's following the spirit of the law. This is when being a robot isn't helpful.

ben_w 3y ago
You could equally well argue that it's the government's fault for not expressing the spirit they intended into the letters they wrote.
- SenHeng 3y ago
  Language is ambiguous. That's why we have judges.
  - Kbelicius 3y ago
    Numbers aren't ambiguous.
BLKNSLVR 3y ago
Yes, true, but the idiom "the law is an ass" doesn't exist for no reason. Politics created the rules; drew the line beyond which is "bad". Nvidia stayed under the line so as to comply with the rules, and yet "politics" still doesn't like it.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
leovingi 3y ago
Do you pay the exact amount of tax you owe to the government, or do you always add a bit of extra on top to comply with the "spirit of the law"?

SilverBirch 3y ago

That's not what happens. What happens is that the government comes out with something like "Hey, we don't want you to sell AI chips to China". Then with some beauracratic process - which almost certainly involves consulting with chip manufacturers - invents a set of rules get drawn. Then nVidia produce a SKU of their chip (note: not a new chip, a variant of one that clearly breaches the rules) that exactly matches the letter of regulation, but not the intent of the regulation. Now, the reasonable thing to do as the regulator - is to acknowledge that the company you were asking for compliance from is acting in a hostile manner and modify the regulation to punitively clamp down on everything they're doing. What I'm saying is that if I were the US in this situation I would be happily inviting nVidia to comply with the new rules that allows them to export anything above 100nm. Nvidia had their shot at meeting the regulation - the spirit not the letter, they blew it, they can live with the consequences.