The U.S. is considering imposing export controls on a long list of emerging technologies in a move to protect its lead over China in developing artificial intelligence, robotics and quantum computing.

Why it matters: China has been gaining on the American head start in these strategic technologies, and the U.S. is deploying new tools to keep it at bay. "This complex effort was undertaken primarily due to the perception that China was exploiting weaknesses in the system to obtain advanced technologies with potential military applications," said Paul Triolo, an analyst at the Eurasia Group.

Export controls are a "key component of the effort to protect sensitive U.S. technology," the government wrote in the Federal Register today.