In what marks a clear shift away from previous export policies, the Trump administration is, according to Reuters, working on new legislation that will base the export of AI chips on a quid pro quo framework. An official confirmation of a new legal framework has been made on X by the U.S. Commerce Department.
In short, any company that wish to purchase large orders, 200,000 or more, of AI computer chips, must make investments in to AI data centres or security guarantees in the U.S. and allow export control officers to visit installation sites.
Previously, the sales of such advanced technology to allies has not been regulated under previous administrations, and thus the new legal framework - which is not finalised yet - marks a very distinctive shift in export and security policy. This seems to be a clear way to give leverage to the Trump administration, as political negotiations could be the main way to secure access to the technology.
Already blacklisted countries are not affected, nor countries such as China, who just recently were approved for getting shipment of last-gen AI chips, but a loophole seems to exist, as smaller shipments, even below 1,000 chips, may need a license as well, with the only way to avoid it being for the manufacturer to monitor the use, and disable any form of linkage, meaning any form of daisy-chaining, or cluster-use, while export of over 100,000 chips will require government interference to provide assurances, such as Saudi Arabia already does.