SIA, Nvidia slam proposed global restrictions on US AI chip exports
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The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has criticised a US government plan to issue an export control ruling on AI chips that includes sweeping changes just days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Nvidia Corp., the world’s leading vendor of AI processors and GPUs, has also reportedly weighed in against the expected ruling, saying it would limit the incoming administration’s freedom of action by imposing draconian last-minute rules that will hurt US companies’ sales.
The ‘Export Control Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion’ would be one of the last acts of the Biden administration. It is expected to place yet another layer of global restrictions and licensing requirements on US exports of advanced chips.
By imposing a restriction on exports of AI chips and GPUs to the whole of the rest of the world with a short list of 20 countries with a reduced regulatory burden, the proposed Framework would deviate substantially from previous export controls, observers said.
In a statement the SIA said: “The SIA and our member companies share the US government’s commitment to safeguarding national security. We are, however, deeply concerned by the unprecedented scope and complexity of this potential regulation, which was developed without industry input and could significantly undercut US leadership and competitiveness in semiconductor technology and advanced AI systems.”
The SIA said the US government should not make such a significant shift in policy during a transitional period and without consulting with the industry. It called for the Biden administration to issue a “proposed rule” that could be handed over to the incoming Trump administration or leave matters entirely to the new government.
Capping AI chip purchases by country
“The extreme ‘country cap’ policy will affect mainstream computers in countries around the world, doing nothing to promote national security but rather pushing the world to alternative technologies,” Bloomberg reported Ned Finkle, Nvidia’s vice president of government affairs, saying in a statement.
“It makes no sense for the Biden White House to control everyday data-center computers and technology that is already in gaming PCs worldwide, disguised as an anti-China move,” Bloomberg reported Finkle saying.
A blog published by Ken Glueck, an executive vice president at Oracle, criticized the interim final ruling (IFR) for being “highly complex and wildly overbroad.” Under the title Export Control Diffusion Confusion Glueck made the point that the 200-page document while being complex leaves many questions unanswered and appears to pay little regard to how widely AI is already deployed.
The ruling could come into effect 60 days after being published on the Federal Register and Glueck said that the imposition of such a rule so quickly would “turn the US cloud industry upside down.”
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Enough China export restrictions, the SIA tells US government
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