Europe joins protests against Bidens’ AI chip sales restrictions

Business news | January 14, 2025

By Peter Clarke

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The European Commission has joined the protests against the US government’s just-introduced Interim Final Rule (IFR) that caps the sale of AI and GPU chips around the world.

The IFR is set to be one of the last acts of the outgoing Biden administration.

The European Commission issued a joint statement on behalf of Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič on Monday January 13 soon after the White House announced the IFR. In doing so The European Commission has joined protests from individual companies with much to lose, such as Nvidia, and with trade associations such as the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association.

Nvidia calls Biden’s last AI export rule ‘sweeping overreach’

The EC statement said: “We are concerned about the US measures adopted today restricting access to advanced AI chip exports for selected EU member states and their companies. We believe it is also in the US economic and security interest that the EU buys advanced AI chips from the US without limitations: we cooperate closely, in particular in the field of security, and represent an economic opportunity for the US, not a security risk.”

The statement went on to say that the European Commission has already shared its concerns with the current US administration and that it was hopeful of engaging positively with the incoming administration.

The IFR was published on the Federal Register on January 13 with general compliance required 120 days after that, which gives the incoming administration of Donald Trump time to cancel or delay the IFR if it wishes.