President Donald Trump will rescind a Biden-era rule that many conservatives have said would undermine American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI).
A Commerce Department spokeswoman said on Wednesday that the Trump administration will rescind and alter a Biden rule, known as the Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Rule (AIDR), that limited the export of artificial intelligence chips. The Biden-era rule sought to restrict Chinese access to advanced AI chips.
“The Biden AI rule is overly complex, overly bureaucratic, and would stymie American innovation,” the Commerce Department spokeswoman said in a statement to Reuters. “We will be replacing it with a much simpler rule that unleashes American innovation and ensures American AI dominance.”
Senate Republicans in April sent a letter to Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick, warning that under the current language of the AI rule, only 18 countries would have access to American technology, which may ironically push other, non-Tier 1 countries to turn to China’s cheap substitutes:
Fundamentally, the rule places burdensome constrains on U.S. companies that would be difficult to comply with and even harder for the Federal government to enforce. Buyers, particularly in Tier 2 countries that are constrained from purchasing U.S. technology, would be incentivized to turn to Communist China’s unregulated, cheap substitutes. Additionally, technology companies in Tier 2 countries could be motivated to create their own AI technology stack that is outside our export control regime. Neither outcome furthers our nation’s long-term economic and national security goals. [Emphasis added]
ALFA Institute Chairman and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy had warned that the Biden AI Diffusion Rule would hurt American technological leadership.
“Drafted behind closed doors and signed in the waning days of the Biden presidency, this 41 page interim rule would impose a litany of new restrictions on American chip manufacturers seeking to export their products to our friends around the world,” McCarthy wrote.
“Instead, under the new Biden framework set to take effect this May, allies like Israel and Poland would find it harder to purchase cutting-edge technologies made right here in the USA, leaving them to turn to other sources for their needs; namely: China,” McCarthy continued.
He remarked, “Proponents of the diffusion rule would lead you to believe that this policy is tough on China. They think that AI should be treated as a weapon, closely guarded by a select few nations, and run by an even smaller number of ‘validated end users.’ And that America can maintain our slim yet meaningful lead in the all-important race for AI dominance through more bureaucratic regulations and red tape.”
“These Senators perfectly capture the perils of Biden’s last-minute ‘AI Diffusion Rule.’ ALFA has been ringing the alarm bell for months that this misguided rule will not only hamper American technology, but will also open the door for Chinese companies, such as Huawei, to gain crucial market share with our allies. America’s slim yet meaningful lead in AI is vitally important to maintain, and we cannot afford to let rules like this trip us up,” Matt Sparks, a cofounder of the ALFA Institute, told Breitbart News in April.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
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