Biden Admin Proposes New AI Chip Regulations

The Biden administration announced an Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion that regulates AI chip exports and aims to keep the technology out of the hands of U.S. adversaries.

“In the wrong hands, powerful AI systems have the potential to exacerbate significant national security risks, including by enabling the development of weapons of mass destruction, supporting powerful offensive cyber operations, and aiding human rights abuses, such as mass surveillance,” a White House fact sheet says. “Today, countries of concern actively employ AI – including U.S.-made AI – in this way, and seek to undermine U.S. AI leadership.”

The interim rule “streamlines licensing hurdles for both large and small chip orders, bolsters U.S. AI leadership, and provides clarity to allied and partner nations about how they can benefit from AI. It builds on previous chip controls by thwarting smuggling, closing other loopholes, and raising AI security standards,” the fact sheet explains.

No restrictions will apply to chip sales in 18 countries allied with the United States. Countries that are not U.S. allies may purchase up to 50,000 advanced graphics processing units (GPUs), while individual entities may apply for a “National Verified End User” status to purchase up to 320,000 advanced GPUs over the next two years.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the policy will “help build a trusted technology ecosystem around the world and allow us to protect against the national security risks associated with AI, while ensuring controls do not stifle innovation or US technological leadership.”

“Managing these very real national security risks requires taking into account the evolution of AI technology, the capabilities of our adversaries, and the desire of our allies to share in the benefits of this technology,” Raimondo said. “We’ve done that with this rule, and it will help safeguard the most advanced AI technology and help ensure it stays out of the hands of our foreign adversaries, while we continue to broadly share the benefits with partner countries.”

Ned Finkle, the Vice President of Government Affairs at tech company and chip giant Nvidia, condemned the proposed interim rule, calling it “misguided.”

Finkle said the Biden administration “seeks to restrict access to mainstream computing applications with its unprecedented and misguided ‘AI Diffusion’ rule, which threatens to derail innovation and economic growth worldwide.” He claimed the rule would “undermine America’s leadership with a 200+ page regulatory morass, drafted in secret and without proper legislative review.”

“While cloaked in the guise of an ‘anti-China’ measure, these rules would do nothing to enhance U.S. security. The new rules would control technology worldwide, including technology that is already widely available in mainstream gaming PCs and consumer hardware,” Finkle added. “Rather than mitigate any threat, the new Biden rules would only weaken America’s global competitiveness, undermining the innovation that has kept the U.S. ahead.”

MORE STORIES