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U.S. AI Chip Export Rules Face Industry Clash as May 15 Deadline Nears

Anthropic urges stricter enforcement while Nvidia pushes for relaxed regulations as Trump administration considers changes to Biden-era framework.

Jensen Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., speaks while holding the company's new GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards and a Thor Blackwell robotics processor during the 2025 CES event in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. Huang announced a raft of new chips, software and services, aiming to stay at the forefront of artificial intelligence computing. Photographer: Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A NVIDIA logo is displayed on a building in Taipei, Taiwan April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang
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Overview

  • The Biden-era AI Diffusion Rule, set to take effect May 15, introduces a three-tier system restricting AI chip exports based on national security risk, with China in the most restricted category.
  • Anthropic supports the rule but calls for refinements, including lowering the no-license compute threshold for Tier 2 countries and increasing funding for enforcement to prevent smuggling.
  • Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang advocates for easing export restrictions, emphasizing the need to accelerate global diffusion of U.S. AI technology to maintain competitiveness.
  • The Trump administration is reportedly considering replacing the three-tier system with a per-country licensing approach, adding uncertainty to the rule's final structure.
  • Tensions between Anthropic and Nvidia have escalated, with Nvidia dismissing Anthropic's claims of Chinese smuggling tactics as exaggerated, despite corroborated reports of such incidents.