The United States is reportedly considering a significant expansion of its export control policies on artificial intelligence chips. According to sources familiar with the matter, the Trump administration has drafted regulations that would require companies to obtain US government approval before exporting nearly all AI accelerators from companies like NVIDIA and AMD to any global destination. This would extend current restrictions, which apply to approximately 40 countries, to a worldwide scope.
These AI chips are among the most sought-after components in the technology sector, heavily purchased by firms such as OpenAI and Alphabet Inc. for installation in data centers that power services like ChatGPT and Gemini. The proposed rules aim to establish the US government as a gatekeeper for the AI industry, where companies—and in some cases, their home governments—must secure approval from the US Department of Commerce to acquire these critical processors.
The Trump administration has repeatedly expressed its desire for global adoption of US AI technology, clarifying that the draft regulations are not intended as an export ban on NVIDIA. Instead, they would grant Washington broad authority to determine whether and under what conditions other nations can build facilities for training and operating AI models.
The approval process would reportedly depend on the scale of computing power required. Exports involving up to 1,000 of NVIDIA's latest GB300 graphics processing units would undergo a simplified review and could qualify for certain exemptions. For larger-scale computing clusters, companies would need pre-approval before applying for an export license and might face additional requirements, such as disclosing business models or permitting on-site US government inspections, depending on the specific data center circumstances.
For extremely large deployments, such as a single company operating over 200,000 NVIDIA GB300 GPUs in one country, the host government's involvement would be necessary. Sources indicate that the US would only approve such exports for allies making stringent security commitments and undertaking reciprocal investments in the US AI sector, though the draft does not specify investment proportions.
The US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, along with NVIDIA and AMD, have not responded to requests for comment.
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