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President Biden is reportedly about to add more chip export restrictions—and Nvidia isn't happy.
"We would encourage President Biden to not preempt incoming President Trump by enacting a policy that will only harm the US economy, set America back, and play into the hands of US adversaries," Nvidia VP Ned Finkle tells Reuters on Friday.
The possible restrictions, which could be announced as soon as Friday, are being designed to try to stop AI chips for data centers from being shipped to certain countries, Bloomberg reported this week, citing anonymous sources familiar with the plans. US allies like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Nordic countries, French Guiana, and most of Western Europe would face little restrictions. This means they could be able to import virtually any type of chip from Intel, AMD, or Nvidia in large quantities, potentially without limits.
Much of Central and South America—as well as much of Africa, the Middle East, Portugal, Eastern Europe, Switzerland, and Southeast Asia—would face more restrictions, but it's currently unclear what types of US chips they might be able to import. These countries could face limits on the amount of chips they could import to limit their overall computing power, according to the report. But they could potentially be exempted from the new rules if they agree to certain human rights standards and US security expectations the US government sets.
Countries that the US has military or trade tensions with already, like China, Russia, Belarus, and parts of the Middle East, would face the most restrictions, according to a map Bloomberg made depicting the upcoming geographic rules. Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Libya, Sudan, South Sudan, the DRC, the Central Republic of Africa, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and other countries are also expected to face the highest level of US chip restrictions. Many of these countries already face US sanctions because they have been deemed US adversaries or have militias that the US has labeled terrorist groups. The anticipated rules may completely attempt to stop any US chip imports into these countries.
"A last-minute rule restricting exports to most of the world would be a major shift in policy that would not reduce the risk of misuse but would threaten economic growth and US leadership," Nvidia told Bloomberg in a statement published on Thursday. "The worldwide interest in accelerated computing for everyday applications is a tremendous opportunity for the US to cultivate, promoting the economy and adding US jobs."
The US already has chip export restrictions on sanctioned countries, and has been trying to stop advanced Nvidia chips from being smuggled into China. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC), a major chip manufacturer for Nvidia and Apple, had to investigate its buying clients after US-sanctioned Chinese tech giant Huawei got ahold of some TSMC chips and put one in its latest AI processor.
In December, the US added more chip restrictions, sanctioning 140 companies and restricting AI memory exports. When Trump was previously President, his tariffs on China spurred Nvidia to ask Biden in 2021 to make some exceptions to those rules.