The US Department of Commerce has withdrawn a proposed rule that would have tightened controls on exports of advanced AI chips, offering major relief to companies such as Nvidia, AMD and Intel.
According to an update on the Office of Management and Budget website, cited by Bloomberg, the interagency review of the proposal has concluded and the measure will not proceed.
The draft regulation had proposed stricter oversight of global shipments of advanced AI chips made by US firms, including Nvidia and AMD. It was seen as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reshape US chip export policy after replacing the regulatory framework introduced under the Biden administration. Bloomberg had earlier reported that the proposal remained in draft form and that internal discussions were still at a preliminary stage.
The move is being seen as a major relief for AMD and Nvidia because the rule could have significantly complicated overseas sales of high-end AI chips. Under the proposal, exports would have been subject to a tiered approval system based on the computing power of the chips being shipped for AI training and development.
Companies seeking to purchase larger volumes of advanced chips could also have faced extra conditions, including requirements for their governments to support AI capacity in the United States. The proposal would have given the Commerce Department’s licensing office greater authority to review exports from Nvidia and AMD on a case-by-case basis.
Approvals were expected to depend on several factors, including government-to-government agreements and the amount of computing power requested by the end user.
Responding to Bloomberg’s earlier report, the Commerce Department last week said it would not return to the previous administration’s AI diffusion framework, describing that approach as “burdensome, overreaching and disastrous.”
US officials are also said to be considering other possible changes to export rules for advanced AI chips. One earlier report suggested the draft proposal could have required foreign governments to invest in US AI infrastructure in exchange for access to larger shipments of chips used in AI data centres.
Earlier, President Donald Trump reportedly told Nvidia chief Jensen Huang that export licences would be approved. As part of that arrangement, Nvidia agreed to transfer 25% of the revenue from H200 chip sales in China to the US government.
