President Donald Trump’s administration plans to limit AI chip shipments from Nvidia Corp. and others to Malaysia and Thailand.
According to those familiar with the issue, the draft Commerce Department’s regulations seeks to prevent China, which effectively prohibits the sale of Nvidia’s advanced AI processors (which effectively prohibits the sale of Nvidia’s advanced AI processors). The rules have not yet been fixed and could change, said those who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Officials are planning to combine formal control of global curbs from so-called AI proliferation regulations with management in Malaysia and Thailand, people said. That framework from the end of President Joe Biden’s term was challenged by US allies, including Nvidia, and high-tech companies. Washington maintains semiconductor restrictions targeting China — imposed in 2022 and has increased several times since — and over 40 other countries covered in the 2023 measure have designed Biden officials to address smuggling concerns and increase visibility into key markets.
Regulations will mark the first formal step in the promised overhaul of its predecessor’s AI spreading approach – the Commerce Department said in May that Biden will replace its own “bold and comprehensive strategy.” But the draft scale is far from a comprehensive alternative, people said. For example, we will not answer questions about security conditions regarding US chip use in overseas data centers. This is a discussion of the Middle East that has a particularly high interest. It is unclear whether Trump officials will ultimately regulate the shipment of AI chips to wider countries, beyond the addition of Malaysia and Thailand.
The Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment. The agency has provided some details on the vision of the regulations beyond what Secretary Howard Lutnick told lawmakers last month. The United States will allow allies to purchase AI chips if they are run by an approved American data center operator.
