The Biden administration is proposing new restrictions on the export of AI chips

With a week left in office, President Joe Biden has unveiled a new set of guidelines and restrictions for the export of US-made AI chips.

The administration made the announcement on Monday Interim Final Rule About AI Diffusion. According to a White House press release, the decision aims to “provide clarity to allied and partner countries on how they can benefit from AI” and ease licensing barriers for chip orders. But these rules also impose new restrictions on chip sales in most countries around the world.

According to these new guidelines, countries are divided into three groups to report From CNN.

The first group includes the US’s most powerful allies, such as Japan and South Korea, which are not affected by the new restrictions. The second group includes countries such as China and Russia. These countries can no longer buy advanced AI chips and will now face further restrictions under new guidelines on most “closed” AI models. The third group, which covers most of the world, will now have caps on how many chips they can buy. The gift is set at 50,000 graphics processing units per country, but there are many ways a country can access a higher quota.

According to CNN, along with countries such as Mexico, Portugal and Israel, this third group of countries, which are neither America’s strongest allies nor enemies, are the most affected by the changes. Restrictions on this group of countries are intended to prevent competitors like China and Russia from buying chips through them, but will also hurt the adoption of AI in those countries in the process.

Nvidia issued a statement Monday called the proposed rules “unprecedented and misguided,” adding that they would “derail” innovation and economic growth around the world.

These proposals are intended to build on guidance released by the Biden administration in October 2022 and October 2023. According to CNN, today’s proposal also includes a 120-day comment period, but the rules will go into effect before that period ends.

While the news caused quite a stir in the AI ​​community, with a new administration taking office next week, the conversation around chip export restrictions could look quite different by the end of the month.