Washington reportedly moves to tighten leash on AI chip exports
The Trump administration is reportedly planning new restrictions on GPU exports, aimed not only at controlling who gets them, but at driving AI investment back into the US.
The Department of Commerce is said to be drafting rules that would require chipmakers to obtain government approval before exporting AI chips to any country, effectively giving Washington a stranglehold on AI compute supply.
News site Axios says a 129-page draft is circulating through the government, though a White House official pushed back, saying the draft "does not reflect what President Trump has said on export controls nor does it reflect the direction of the Trump administration on encouraging export of the American AI stack."
AI chipmakers such as Nvidia and AMD would have to obtain export permission on a country-by-country basis. This has drawn comparisons with the AI Diffusion rules passed by the outgoing Biden administration during its final weeks. This proposed to cap AI chip sales to most countries, exempted a tier of trusted allies, and imposed total bans on Russia, China, and Iran.
The Trump administration rescinded those rules before they took effect, with the Commerce Department saying they would have "stifled American innovation and saddled companies with burdensome new regulatory requirements."
The department posted on X that it is "committed to promoting secure exports of the American tech stack," citing its Middle East agreements as a model and adding that internal discussions are ongoing about "formalizing that approach."
It closed by saying it "will not" return to the AI Diffusion rule, calling it "burdensome, overreaching, and disastrous." Reg readers will note that this is neither a denial nor a confirmation of country-by-country export rules, which are a distinct proposal that has merely been compared with the Diffusion scheme.
Separately, the Financial Times reports that the Department of Commerce may require corporations that buy large volumes of Nvidia and AMD chips to invest in AI infrastructure on US soil.
The scheme is consistent with President Trump's broader demand that foreign tech companies spend in the US or face punitive import tariffs. According to the FT's sources, the scheme would also allow Washington to approve GPU export deals along the lines of last year's agreements with the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Neither proposal has been officially confirmed. The Register asked the Commerce Department whether either resembles rules it plans to enforce, and will update if we get an answer.
All of this makes for just another installment in the Trump administration's chaotic, politically driven, and ever-shifting trade strategy, especially when it comes to technology.
In January, it announced that exports of Nvidia and AMD GPUs to China would only be allowed if there was sufficient supply of the same products in the US. Beijing, however, is now trying to wean its industries off American technology, and ordered them to cancel orders for Nvidia kit. This comes after several years of fluctuating tactics designed to stymie China's access to advanced AI technology. ®
