Image source: generated by Unbounded AI

If nothing unexpected happens, current US President Biden will officially step down as US President at noon on January 20, 2025, local time , and transfer power to President-elect Trump.

Then just a week before leaving office, on January 13, 2025, Biden announced an interim final rule titled "The Biden-Harris Administration's Interim Final Rule on the Proliferation of Artificial Intelligence." Export control policy aims to further restrict the export of AI chips and technology!

This ban is intended to further restrict the export of AI chips and technology to most countries, especially countries and regions such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

This document, which is more than 120 pages long, divides countries and regions around the world into three categories and implements different restrictive measures:

Category 1: includes members of the Group of Seven (G7) and Australia About 18 countries and regions, including New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, the Netherlands and Ireland, have no restrictions on chip sales in these countries and regions. Category II: Including about 120 countries such as Singapore, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. For these countries, exports exceeding the quota will be subject to quantity restrictions and licensing restrictions. The third category: including mainland China (including Hong Kong and Macao), Iran, Russia, North Korea and other countries and regions. US companies will actually not be able to export to these countries.

The new regulations also control the parameter weights of AI models.

Enterprises cannot deploy high-performance closed-source models in countries and regions belonging to the third category; when deploying in countries and regions in the second category, they must strictly abide by security standards.

In contrast, open source models (or open weight models) are not restricted by these rules; closed source models whose performance is lower than existing open source models are also outside the scope of control.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Sunday that the new rules are "designed to protect the most advanced AI technology and ensure that it does not fall into the hands of foreign adversaries while making the technology widely available." Dissemination and sharing can benefit partner countries."

At the same time, Gina Raymond also stated that these restrictions are only for national security issues, and consumer-grade gaming chips (such as Nvidia RTX series) are not included in this regulation.

Biden also emphasized that AI is quickly becoming the core of security and economic power, and the United States must take decisive action to lead this transformation to ensure that U.S. technology supports the use of AI globally and that adversaries cannot easily access it indiscriminately. of advanced AI.

Causing criticism from U.S. technology giants and industries

This ban The measures also triggered strong criticism from U.S. technology giants and industry organizations before and after their release.

Global chip giant NVIDIA issued a document stating that the global adoption of AI has promoted growth and opportunities in domestic and foreign industries.However, the Biden administration’s “AI proliferation” rules attempt to restrict access to mainstream computing applications, threatening global innovation and economic growth. The rules do nothing to enhance U.S. security, and instead put global progress at risk.

Oracle Executive Vice President Ken Glueck even criticized this new regulation as potentially becoming one of the most destructive policies in the history of the US technology industry, directly reducing the global chip market of US companies by 80%.

More to achieve extreme regulatory excess than to protect the interests of the United States and its partners and allies, in effect establishing a law of intent with consequences that will cost the United States critical technological leadership.

The U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association stated that it is deeply concerned about the unprecedented scope and complexity of this potential regulation. This regulation was formulated without industry input and may significantly weaken the U.S. semiconductor industry. technology and advanced AI systems, and urged the government to hand over the policy development process to the incoming Trump administration.

In addition, some foreign media bluntly stated that in the past four years, the Biden administration has been restricting China's acquisition of advanced chips in order to maintain the United States' leading position in the AI ​​field. However, U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo also admitted that the restrictions China's acquisition of advanced chips has not slowed down China's progress. Trying to slow down China is a "foolish thing."

China responded: It will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests

< p>China responded immediately to the new U.S. regulations.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce stated on January 13 that China has noticed that the measure has further tightened export controls on artificial intelligence chips, model parameters, etc., and also expanded long-arm jurisdiction over third parties carrying out transactions with China. China is firmly opposed to erecting obstacles and interfering in normal trade.

Previously, U.S. high-tech companies and industry organizations have expressed dissatisfaction and concerns through various channels. They believe that the measure has not been fully discussed and has been hastily formulated. It is an over-regulation of the artificial intelligence field and will lead to With major adverse consequences, we strongly call on the Biden administration to stop introducing measures. However, the Biden administration has turned a deaf ear to the reasonable calls of the industry and insists on hastily introducing measures. This is another example of generalizing the concept of national security and abusing export controls, and a blatant violation of international multilateral economic and trade rules. Violate.

Is there any room for change?

It is worth noting that the Biden administration issued this new restriction just one week before Trump's inauguration.

This ruling sets a 120-day consultation period, which means that the Trump administration will have the opportunity to listen to opinions and suggestions from all parties in the future to decide whether to retain or modify these regulations.

In general, the US AI banIt not only affects international scientific and technological cooperation and competition, but also brings many uncertainties to the development of the global AI industry.

In the future, with the Trump administration taking office, the implementation and direction of these regulations remains to be seen.