Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., urged the Commerce Department Feb. 3 to strengthen export controls following the recent “breakthrough development” of an advanced artificial intelligence model by Chinese startup DeepSeek.
The EU is “concerned” about the Bureau of Industry and Security's new export controls on advanced AI chips (see 2501130026), which will impose new restrictions on certain EU member states and their companies, the bloc’s top two technology and trade officials said in a joint statement this week.
China criticized new U.S. export controls over certain advanced AI chips released this week (see 2501130026) and announced its own set of export restrictions on American firms the next day, adding seven defense contractors to its so-called unreliable entity list.
Many signs are pointing toward the incoming Trump administration embracing the new sweeping U.S. export controls on AI chips, an AI technology policy researcher said this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security released four new rules Jan. 15, including one that will make more changes to its semiconductor-related export controls -- including by creating a new list of trusted chip designers and service providers -- another rule that will place new controls on certain biotechnology equipment and technology, and two rules that will add companies to the Entity List.
A new Bureau of Industry and Security rule that will place new, worldwide export controls on advanced computing chips and certain closed artificial intelligence model weights was widely panned by the American semiconductor and technology industry this week, even as U.S. officials said the restrictions are necessary to keep American companies ahead of their Chinese competitors.
The Biden administration is planning more policy actions related to artificial intelligence chips -- including possibly more export enforcement -- before President-elect Donald Trump takes over next month, said Ben Buchanan, the White House’s special adviser for AI.
The incoming Trump administration could look to continue expanding the scope of U.S. foreign direct product rule restrictions, which could lead to enforcement challenges or push foreign companies to design U.S. components out of their supply chains, think tank scholars said last week.
The U.S. must continue to coordinate with allies on export controls, especially around Russia-related trade restrictions and curbs on advanced semiconductors and semiconductor tools destined to China, the Bureau of Industry and Security's Thea Kendler said during her final international outreach event as a Biden administration official.
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