The Trump administration is exploring options to address AI chip exports, and initial reports suggest the proposed regulations are far more aggressive than the industry anticipated.
The US Is Planning New AI Chip Export Regulations, By Looking at Compute Power Being Shipped Out
The debate around AI chip exports has emerged several times since chip manufacturers like NVIDIA and AMD achieved significant compute breakthroughs. This matter was also under intense focus by the Biden administration, which introduced the "AI Diffusion" act that addresses AI chip exports by categorizing countries into different levels, each with its own caveats. The Diffusion Act was perceived as a threat to America's AI industry, and NVIDIA also opposed it, but the new regulations proposed under the Trump administration are far more aggressive.
According to a Bloomberg report, the US government is planning to draft regulations that would hinder AI chip exports to any country worldwide, including key allies. It is claimed that NVIDIA and AMD would need to apply for export licenses for all hardware shipped out, with no exemptions currently planned. Interestingly, the intensity of scrutiny of export requests would depend on the computing power being shipped out. The report states that shipments of up to 1,000 NVIDIA GB300 racks (Bloomberg calls them GPUs so that they could be B300s) could be exported with a "fairly simple review."
For large-scale customer orders, the US would require the host government to get involved and lead the negotiations, with key requirements being "security promises and matching investments in American AI". This regulation could mark the first occasion for the current administration to lay a framework for the diffusion of American AI technology, but the report claims it would put the global AI infrastructure buildout at the mercy of a bureaucratic system rife with delays and paperwork.
The implementation of the proposed regulations hasn't been discussed for now, and there isn't a set timeline for when we could see these restrictions play out. Given that the AI Diffusion rule was rescinded in May 2025, we could see newer regulations imposed under a similar timeline.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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