US Plans to Make AI Chips Export to China Even Tougher

The US administration proposed new control mechanisms to close loopholes around the export of AI models and advanced chips to China. The framework builds on previous chip controls by thwarting smuggling, closing other loopholes, and raising AI security standards.

“It is essential that we do not offshore this critical technology and that the world’s AI runs on American rails,” President Joe Biden's administration wrote in a factsheet. The new Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion would allow 18 trusted nations unlimited access to US-based AI technology. Companies in other nations would face caps on the chips they could import, according to the factsheet.

Users outside of the 18 nations could purchase up to 50,000 GPUs per country. There would also be government-to-government deals that could increase the cap to 100,000 GPUs if their export control, renewable energy, and technological security goals align with the US. Companies could obtain up to 1,700 of the latest AI chips without needing special permission. Those GPUs would likely help meet orders by universities, research organizations, and medical institutions for innocuous purposes as opposed to building data centers.

Companies outside of the US will be required to have adequate physical and cybersecurity measures in place to obtain the licenses. The new policy, which includes a comment period, is set to take effect 120 days from publication, giving President-elect Donald Trump’s administration time to weigh in.