KEY TAKEAWAYS
- In its last days in the White House, the Biden administration reportedly is planning new regulations that could be announced as soon as Friday to further limit the export of artificial intelligence (AI) chips by companies like Nvidia.
- According to Bloomberg, the Biden administration is planning three tiers of chip curbs, with U.S. allies getting unlimited access.
- The plan would involve new caps on AI chip imports by Gulf states and Southeast Asian countries as well as increased restrictions on imports by Russia and China.
In its last days in the White House, the Biden administration reportedly is planning new regulations that could be announced as soon as Friday to further limit the export of artificial intelligence (AI) chips by companies like Nvidia (NVDA).
According to Bloomberg, the Biden administration is planning three tiers of chip curbs: at the top level, U.S. allies would retain unlimited access to U.S. chips; at the second, adversaries won’t be able to import semiconductors; and at the third, most countries would face restrictions on the total computing power they get.
Reported Plan Involves New Caps on Chip Imports by Gulf States, Southeast Asia
The plan would see the U.S. restricting the sale of AI chips used in data centers on both a country and company basis, Bloomberg said. It would involve new caps on AI chip imports by Gulf states and Southeast Asian countries as well as marking a final push to keep advanced technologies away from China and Russia. The idea would see “friendly nations” have more access to AI chips.
Companies in countries that face national limits could get more access “by agreeing to a set of U.S. government security requirements and human rights standards,” the report said.
Nvidia didn’t immediately return an Investopedia request for comment but objected to the proposal in a statement provided to Bloomberg, saying, “A last-minute rule restricting exports to most of the world would be a major shift in policy that would not reduce the risk of misuse but would threaten economic growth and U.S. leadership.”
Nvidia shares slipped more than 1% after markets closed Wednesday following the report.
