[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-microsoft-lobbies-against-fcc-curbs-on-chinese-optical-gear":10,"sections":41},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":30,"tags":31,"sources":36,"feedback":40,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":40,"total_tokens":40},12786,"microsoft-lobbies-against-fcc-curbs-on-chinese-optical-gear","Microsoft Lobbies Against FCC Curbs on Chinese Optical Gear","Chinese firms supply 66% of optical transceivers, and a floated compromise would ban only 3.2Tbps modules, which are not set to scale until 2028.","Microsoft is lobbying the White House against a possible FCC ban on Chinese optical transceivers, the small modules that link AI chips inside data centers.\n\nThe company, which is building 35 data centers around the US and has plans for 134 more, has reportedly met with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council. It is working alongside the Information Technology Industry Council, a trade group. ITI's John Miller said the ban \"really threatens to arguably grind (the data center rollout) to a halt,\" adding that chips could \"just sit there waiting around unutilized\" without transceivers to connect them.\n\nA transceiver converts electrical signals into light so data can travel over fiber. Data centers favor them over copper for AI work because they are faster, lower-latency, and use less power and give off less heat.\n\nThe arithmetic is the problem. Chinese companies supply 66% of the global market, so a ban would more than halve available supply, in an industry already short on parts. The security worry is that Beijing could compromise some modules to steal data, install malware, or remotely disrupt American facilities. That is the same logic the FCC applied when it barred Huawei from US telecom networks.\n\nThe Huawei comparison breaks down on alternatives. Telecom had established rivals to Huawei. Only two US-based companies, Coherent and Lumentum, make the transceivers data centers need, and neither has the scale to cover the gap if a ban took effect today.\n\nThe Trump administration has floated a compromise: ban only Chinese transceivers capable of 3.2 terabits per second. That technology exists, but production is not expected to expand until 2028, with installation starting in 2029. The idea is to give American makers time to ramp up. It is still under consideration.\n\nIt is a tidy deal for everyone but the stated security goal. The security concern, as described, covers compromised modules in general, yet the cutoff would restrict only the fastest ones. The administration has not explained how a speed threshold answers the risk of data theft or malware, and until it does, the proposal reads more as a supply-chain bet than a security measure.","[\"optical-transceivers\",\"fcc\",\"data-centers\",\"china\"]","2026-11-10T17:51:31.000Z","2026-11-10T20:42:30.616Z","2026-11-10T20:42:30.825Z","published",null,[24],{"id":25,"reviewer":26,"round":27,"reason":28,"status":29},"editor-r1","editor",1,"The closing paragraph says 'Nothing in the source says a faster module is more of a security risk', which is a leftover process note and has to go, so rewrite it as the article's own analysis (for example, that the administration has not explained how a speed cutoff addresses the security concern). Also drop or soften the unsupported claim that slower modules are 'the ones filling data centers now', since the source says only that 3.2Tbps technology exists but production won't expand until 2028.","resolved","policy",[32,33,34,35],"optical-transceivers","fcc","data-centers","china",[37],{"name":38,"url":39},"Tom's Hardware","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.tomshardware.com\u002Ftech-industry\u002Fpolicy\u002Fmicrosoft-lobbies-against-potential-ban-on-chinese-optical-networking-gear-for-ai-data-centers-as-fcc-mulls-restricting-imports-industry-group-says-move-could-grind-data-center-rollout-to-a-halt",0,{"sections":42},[43,48,53,58,62,67,72,77,82,87,92,97,102,107],{"name":44,"slug":45,"count":46,"latest_published_at":47},"AI","ai",7144,"2026-11-12T13:27:45.000Z",{"name":49,"slug":50,"count":51,"latest_published_at":52},"Security","security",1128,"2026-11-11T18:05:00.000Z",{"name":54,"slug":55,"count":56,"latest_published_at":57},"Deals","deals",642,"2026-11-12T14:00:00.000Z",{"name":59,"slug":30,"count":60,"latest_published_at":61},"Policy",619,"2026-11-12T12:53:36.000Z",{"name":63,"slug":64,"count":65,"latest_published_at":66},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",364,"2026-11-12T11:12:32.000Z",{"name":68,"slug":69,"count":70,"latest_published_at":71},"Hardware","hardware",336,"2026-11-12T11:24:43.000Z",{"name":73,"slug":74,"count":75,"latest_published_at":76},"Science","science",230,"2026-11-12T10:00:00.000Z",{"name":78,"slug":79,"count":80,"latest_published_at":81},"Software","software",168,"2026-11-11T17:36:49.000Z",{"name":83,"slug":84,"count":85,"latest_published_at":86},"Startups","startups",159,"2026-11-11T12:30:00.000Z",{"name":88,"slug":89,"count":90,"latest_published_at":91},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",127,"2026-11-11T19:00:44.000Z",{"name":93,"slug":94,"count":95,"latest_published_at":96},"General","general",118,"2026-11-11T16:49:42.000Z",{"name":98,"slug":99,"count":100,"latest_published_at":101},"Gaming","gaming",107,"2026-11-12T10:09:03.000Z",{"name":103,"slug":104,"count":105,"latest_published_at":106},"Reviews","reviews",38,"2026-10-20T12:00:00.000Z",{"name":108,"slug":109,"count":110,"latest_published_at":111},"How-To","how-to",8,"2026-10-05T09:00:00.000Z"]