Bloomberg News reported Monday night that for national security reasons, the U.S. is thinking about limiting the amount of powerful AI chips it sells to certain countries.
The report, which cited unnamed people familiar with the situation, said that the U.S. Commerce Department is currently thinking about how to set a limit on export licenses for AI chips made by companies like Nvidia Corp. (NVDA 2.43%), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD -1.56%), and Intel Corp. (INTC -0.51%). This limit would be different for each country.
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Bloomberg says that the focus would be on Middle Eastern countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia that want to greatly increase the size of data centres used for AI. The Commerce Department just announced new rules last month that make it easier for some Middle Eastern countries to buy AI chips. It is said that the possible export limits would build on those rules.
Nvidia didn’t want to say anything. When asked for feedback, the Commerce Department, AMD, and Intel did not answer right away.
Early this year, the U.S. slowed down the license process for companies that make AI chips while it reevaluated its global strategy for these highly sought-after chips. In the past, sales of AI chips to China were limited. These limits affected many countries, including some in the Middle East, because they were worried that those countries might send AI chips to China instead of other places.
In a recent statement, the US and the UAE talked about how they are “deepening collaboration across AI… underpinned by a shared commitment to safe, secure, and trustworthy AI.”
