Microsoft는 미국 연방통신위원회(FCC)가 중국산 광네트워크 장비에 대한 금지를 검토하는 가운데, 정보기술산업협의회(ITI)를 통해 이에 반대하는 로비를 벌이고 있다. 이 금지안에는 데이터센터가 전기 신호를 광신호로 변환하는 데 필요한 광트랜시버도 포함될 수 있다.

Microsoft, which is building 35 data centers across the U.S. and has plans for 134 more, has reportedly met with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considers an import ban on Chinese optical transceivers. According to Reuters, the company, along with the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), is lobbying against the move.

"It really threatens to arguably grind (the data center rollout) to a halt," said John Miller, ITI Executive Vice President of Policy and General Counsel. He added, "Those chips, without optical transceivers, literally could just sit there waiting around unutilized until you actually have the transceivers to essentially connect them together," referring to the AI chips that data centers use.

Optical transceivers are small modules, plugged into hardware, that convert electrical signals into light signals so data can travel as light pulses through fiber optics. Data centers increasingly use optical transceivers and fiber optics to move data between AI GPUs and server racks because they are faster, offer lower latency, require less power, and generate less heat than traditional copper connections. However, Chinese companies currently supply 66% of the global market. Banning them from supplying U.S. data centers would therefore more than halve the available supply, worsening the shortages that have been pummeling the industry.

There are concerns, however, that some of these transceivers could be compromised by Beijing and used to steal data, install malware, or remotely disrupt American data centers. This is why the FCC is considering the restriction, much as it banned Huawei from the U.S. telecommunications network. Unlike Huawei, which had many established competitors in the telecommunications hardware industry, only two U.S.-based companies produce the optical transceivers data centers need: Coherent and Lumentum. While these firms could produce transceivers to compete with Chinese offerings, they do not have the scale to make up for the shortfall if the FCC bans Chinese imports today.

One compromise floated by the Trump administration would ban only Chinese optical transceivers capable of reaching 3.2 terabits per second. While this technology already exists, its production is not expected to expand until 2028, with installation beginning in 2029. That timeline would give American producers time to ramp up their own output, although the suggestion remains under consideration.