US officials are debating a new regulatory framework for exporting artificial intelligence (AI) chips and are considering requiring foreign nations to invest in US AI data centers or security guarantees as a condition for granting exports of 200,000 chips or more, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The rules are not yet final and could change. They would be the first attempt to regulate the flow of AI chips to US allies and partners since US President Donald Trump’s administration said it rescinded its predecessor’s so-called AI diffusion rules. Those rules sought to keep a significant amount of AI infrastructure buildout in the US and route most purchases through a handful of US cloud computing companies.
If adopted, the proposal would give the Trump administration ample leverage to negotiate investments in the US, one of Trump’s top priorities, as it decides how many AI chips to give to each country.
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The rules depart markedly from former US president Joe Biden’s approach, which was based on the premise that close US allies should be exempted from most restrictions on exports of the coveted chips.
The proposed rules would not affect blacklisted countries such as Russia, which cannot obtain US AI chips under rules set by the Biden 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.
According to a document seen by Reuters, even small chip installations of less than 1,000 chips could need a license.
To qualify for an exemption, the exporter of the chips, such as Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices, would have to monitor them, and the recipient would have to agree to use software that would not allow the chips to be linked to other chips to form a “cluster,” it says.
Foreign firms that want up to 100,000 chips would need to provide government-to-government assurances, it says.
The Trump administration already required Saudi Arabia to provide such assurances in order to purchase advanced chips, it says.
Installations of up to 200,000 chips could also require visits from US export control officials, the document says.
“The rule could help the US government address chip diversion to China and ensure a more secure buildout of the most powerful AI supercomputers,” said Saif Khan, a former national security official in the Biden administration now at the Washington think tank Institute for Progress.
“But the license requirements are overly broad, applying globally, raising concerns that the administration intends to use the controls as negotiation leverage with allies rather than for security,” Khan said.
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