The Donald Trump administration is mulling a new regulatory framework for the export of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips that could require foreign countries to meet certain conditions before receiving large shipments, news agency Reuters reported.
As per the proposal, countries seeking exports of 200,000 AI chips or more may have to invest in US-based AI data centres or provide security guarantees.
If implemented, the framework would mark the first attempt to regulate the flow of AI chips to US allies and partners since the Trump administration scrapped earlier “AI diffusion" rules introduced during the presidency of Joe Biden. Those earlier rules aimed to keep more AI infrastructure development within the United States and channel overseas purchases through a limited number of US cloud companies.
Additionally, the proposal could also require companies to seek US government approval for all exports of AI chips. This could majorly affect major chipmakers such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and effectively position the US government as a gatekeeper for the global AI industry.
According to the document as accessed by the news agency, even relatively small installations of fewer than 1,000 chips might require an export licence. Exporters would also need to monitor the chips, while buyers would have to use software preventing the chips from being linked together into large computing clusters, the report added.
Foreign companies seeking up to 100,000 chips could be required to provide government-to-government assurances, similar to arrangements previously made with Saudi Arabia for advanced chip purchases. Installations of up to 200,000 chips may also require visits from US export control officials.
The proposed rules would not affect blacklisted countries such as Russia, which cannot obtain US AI chips under rules set by the previous Biden’s administration. China, which was among those countries, got a greenlight in December to receive Nvidia’s second-most advanced AI chips. Those shipments have been held up by national security requirements that could convince China not to go through with the purchases.
The US Commerce Department confirmed on social media platform X that officials are discussing new rules, though it said they would differ from what it described as the “burdensome" framework proposed previously.
“The Commerce Department is committed to promoting secure exports of the American tech stack," the department wrote. “We successfully advanced exports through our historic Middle East agreements, and there are ongoing internal government discussions about formalizing that approach."
The department said future policies could follow models used in recent agreements with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where both countries agreed to invest in US technology infrastructure in exchange for access to advanced chips.
Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News
