The U.S. on Tuesday added dozens of Chinese tech companies to its export blacklist in its first such effort under the Donald Trump administration, as it doubles down on curtailing Beijing’s artificial intelligence and advanced computing capabilities.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security added 80 organizations to an “entity list,” with more than 50 from China, barring American companies from supplying to those on the list without government permits.

The companies were blacklisted for allegedly acting contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, the agency said, as part of its efforts to further restrict Beijing’s access to exascale computing tech, which can process vast amounts of data at very high speeds, as well as quantum technologies.

Dozens of Chinese entities were targeted for their alleged involvement in developing advanced AI, supercomputers and high-performance AI chips for military purposes, the Commerce Department said, adding that two firms were supplying to sanctioned entities such as Huawei and its affiliated chipmaker HiSilicon.

It blacklisted 27 Chinese entities for acquiring U.S.-origin items to support China’s military modernization and seven firms for helping advance China’s quantum technology capabilities.

Among the organizations in the “entity list” were also six subsidiaries of Chinese cloud-computing firm Inspur Group, which had been blacklisted by the Joe Biden administration in 2023.

The latest additions “cast an ever-widening net aimed at third countries, transit points and intermediaries,” said Alex Capri, a senior lecturer at National University of Singapore and author of “Techno-Nationalism: How it’s reshaping trade, geopolitics and society.”

Chinese firms have managed to gain access to U.S. strategic dual-use technologies via certain third parties, he said, referring to loopholes that have allowed Chinese companies access to U.S. technologies despite restrictions.

“U.S. officials will continue to step up tracking and tracing operations aimed at the smuggling of advanced semiconductors made by Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices,” he said.

The expanded export restrictions come at a time when tensions between Washington and Beijing have been rising with the Trump administration ratcheting up tariffs against China.

The rapid rise of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has boosted the adoption of open-source low-cost AI models in China, putting pressure on leading U.S. competitors with higher-cost, proprietary models.

The Biden administration imposed sweeping export controls against China, encompassing everything from semiconductors to supercomputers under the so-called “small yard, high fence” policy. The approach aims to place restrictions on a small number of technologies with significant military potential while maintaining normal economic exchange in other areas.

Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Jeffrey I. Kessler said the agency was “sending a clear, resounding message” that the Trump administration will prevent U.S. technologies from “being misused for high performance computing, hypersonic missiles, military aircraft training, and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle) that threaten our national security.”

“The entity list is one of many powerful tools at our disposal to identify and cut off foreign adversaries seeking to exploit American technology for malign purposes,” he added.

Inspur Group and Huawei did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Amazon, in an effort to infuse generative artificial intelligence across a wider swath of its e-commerce universe, recently began testing a shopping assistant and a health-focused chatbot with a subset of users.

AI has become a major area of investment across Amazon, including in its retail, cloud computing, devices and health-care businesses. Within the retail business, Amazon has already launched a shopping chatbot, an AI assistant for sellers and AI shopping guides.

The new services Amazon is testing appeared on its app or website in recent weeks. The shopping tool, called Interests AI, prompts users to describe an interest “using your own words,” and then it generates a curated selection of products. The feature lets consumers browse for products using more conversational language and is separate from the main search bar on Amazon’s website.

Within its core app, Amazon has a landing page for the feature.

“Describe your interest, like ‘coffee brewing gadgets’ or ‘latest pickleball accessories’ — and we’ll find relevant products for you,” the page says. Other suggested searches include “children books about persistence and dealing with failure,” and “brain teasers that are not too hard, made out of wood or metal.”

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said last month that employees have built or are in the process of building roughly 1,000 generative AI applications across the company. Its cloud unit offers a chatbot for businesses, called Q. In commerce, the company has rolled out services for consumers as well as its millions of third-party sellers.

Amazon is also exploring ways that AI can address medical needs. The company is testing a chatbot on its website and mobile app called “Health AI,” which can answer health and wellness questions, “provide common care options for health care needs,” and suggest products.

While Rufus, Amazon’s shopping chatbot, can suggest products like ice packs and ibuprofen, Health AI goes further, providing users with medical guidance and care tips, such as how to deal with cold symptoms or the flu. The site says the service can’t provide personalized medical advice.

Some responses feature a “clinically verified” badge, which denotes information that’s been “reviewed by US-based licensed clinicians,” Amazon says.

Health AI also steers users to Amazon’s online pharmacy, along with clinical services offered by One Medical, the primary care provider it acquired for roughly $3.9 billion in 2022.

More consumers are embracing generative AI as a shopping tool, and with features like Health AI and Interests AI, Amazon wants shoppers to use its own services over rivals like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

With enough use, Amazon could gain valuable insights on the ways that people are interacting with AI assistants as the company prepares to overhaul Alexa, the digital assistant it launched more than a decade ago.

Amazon announced Alexa+, a new version of the technology embedded with generative AI, late last month. The company says that Alexa+, which has yet to roll out, is capable of handling more complex tasks and can serve as an “agent” by taking actions for users without their direct involvement.

Andrew Bell, an Amazon e-commerce manager for the National Fire Protection Association who also publishes research on Amazon’s patent filings and AI development, came across the new shopping and health features and recently posted about them on LinkedIn.

Bell said in an interview that Alexa+ could potentially draw upon models developed for Amazon applications like Health AI to answer queries.

“If there’s a health-related question, Alexa+ is going to maybe call on Health AI,” Bell said. “If there’s a product-related question, Alexa+ can call on Rufus.”

Amazon didn’t provide a comment for this story.

WATCH: Amazon’s SVP of Devices on Alexa+

A quarter century ago, Napster was notorious on the internet for allowing people to swap songs for free, long before the music industry had come up with a model for the digital age.

The service was shuttered in 2001 amid mounting legal battles, and filed for bankruptcy the following year. But the brand isn’t dead.

On Tuesday, Napster was acquired by 3D technology company Infinite Reality for $207 million. Infinite Reality CEO John Acunto told CNBC in an interview that the one-time file-sharing phenomenon will be used for marketing in the metaverse.

Infinite Reality plans to create virtual 3D spaces that allow music fans to enjoy concerts or listening parties together, and let musicians or labels sell physical and virtual merchandise.

“When we think about clients who have audiences — influencers, creators — I think it’s very important that they have a connected space that’s around music and musical communities,” Acunto said. “We just don’t see anybody in the streaming space creating spaces for music.”

Napster is the latest iconic technology brand from decades past to get a new life, following acquisitions and revivals in recent years of Kodak, Nokia and luxury audio brand McIntosh.

“I think there’s no better name than Napster to disrupt,” Acunto said.

Napster was launched in 1999 by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, and became the first significant peer-to-peer file-sharing application. It allowed PC users to swap MP3 files, which could be played in a media player like Winamp, and build collections of digital popular music for free.

The record industry quickly took aim at Napster, accusing the company of allowing people to share pirated files. Heavy metal band Metallica sued Napster, and was followed by the Recording Industry Association of America. After bankruptcy, Napster’s assets were sold off to a series of owners, current CEO Jon Vlassopulos told CNBC.

Since 2016, Napster has been a music streaming service offering on-demand streaming of licensed tracks, currently for $11 per month. It’s a small player in a world dominated by Spotify and Apple Music. In 2022, Napster was bought by blockchain company Algorand, whose investors brought in Vlassopulos.

Napster holds official licenses to stream millions of tracks, agreements that were attractive to Infinite Reality, which says that its version of Napster will “disrupt legally.” And Algorand’s background in blockchain technology was intriguing to Infinite Reality, which also develops Web3 technology, Acunto said.

Alongside streaming music, the combination with Infinite Reality will allow Napster to offer more social features, digital merchandise and shopping.

Artists will be able to create “crazy environments that are really only limited by their imaginations” in Napster, Vlassopulos said. As an example, he imagined a reggae artist who might want to create a beach hangout environment.

Acunto says that when music fans can share a virtual space together, it will be like “Clubhouse times a trillion.” He was referring to the entertainment and virtual events app that became popular during the pandemic before petering out when society reopened.

Infinite Reality, which is building a headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was founded in 2019 and has been acquisitive in recent months, buying companies such as the Drone Racing League, Landvault and virtual reality retail brand Obsess.

In January, the company announced that it had raised $3 billion at a $12.25 billion valuation, although it didn’t reveal any investors. Acunto told CNBC that the company’s investors want to stay anonymous.