The Biden administration has revealed its “<a target="_blank" data-i13n="cpos:1;pos:1" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2025/01/13/fact-sheet-ensuring-u-s-security-and-economic-strength-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:ai diffusion rule;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>”, which aims to restrict the export of the most coveted GPUs for artificial intelligence applications. Although it does not mention the nation by name, it is generally seen as a means to prevent China from overtaking the United States in ai development.
The rule proposes three levels of licensing. The first level has no restrictions and includes the internal market as well as 18 strategic allies. Most countries fall into a second tier, which will have limits on how much computing power they can import through the best US GPUs. The third tier includes China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, and it effectively prohibits American companies from selling their most powerful GPUs there.
US-based companies would also be prevented from sharing many details of their ai software models with countries outside that first tier, and would have to ask the federal government for permission before building large data centers in any second-tier nation. level.
Many parties, including the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), issued <a target="_blank" data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="https://www.semiconductors.org/sia-statement-on-biden-administration-action-imposing-new-export-controls-on-ai-chips/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:statements;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “> condemning the decision, believing the restrictions will do more to push nations to work with China. “The new rule risks causing unintended and lasting harm to the US economy and global competitiveness in semiconductors and artificial intelligence by ceding strategic markets to our competitors,” SIA wrote.
NVIDIA also objected, and Ned Finkle, the company's vice president of Government Affairs, said the Biden Administration “seeks to undermine America's leadership with a more than 200-page regulatory morass, drafted in secret and without adequate legislative review.”
The rule has a 120-day comment period, so it remains an open question whether it will survive the incoming Trump administration.
