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Tech industry leaders are urging the Biden administration not to add a new regulation that would limit the export of artificial intelligence, citing concerns that it is too broad and could diminish the United States’ global dominance in artificial intelligence.
The new rule, which industry leaders say could take effect as early as the end of this week, effectively seeks to shore up the U.S. economy and national security efforts by adding new limits on the amount of U.S.-produced artificial intelligence products can be placed worldwide.
“A rule of this nature would cede the global market to U.S. competitors eager to fill the untapped demand created by placing arbitrary restrictions on the ability of U.S. companies to sell basic computer systems abroad,” said the letter from Jason Oxman, president and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council ( ITI), sent to the Secretary of the Ministry of Trade, Gina Raimondo. “If the US loses its edge in the global AI ecosystem, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to regain in the future.”
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The process of placing new export controls on artificial intelligence dates back to October 2022, when the Biden administration’s Commerce Department first released an updated export framework aimed at slowing the progress of China’s military programs. Details of the new incoming export controls emerged after the Biden administration called on US technology company NVIDIA to stop selling certain computer chips China next month.
Nvidia, an American company, develops real-world robots that are equipped with artificial intelligence capabilities. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
In an update to the rules next year, the Biden administration announced the start of a public notice and comment period. Finally, last month, as the president’s term in the White House was winding down, the administration released two new rule updates that added additional restrictions to the proposed export controls. The rule is now in the final stages before it will be officially published in the Federal Register.
“The Interim Final Rule (‘IFR’) proposed by the Bureau of Industry and Security (‘BIS’) is a highly complex and overbroad attempt to regulate AI and GPUs in the name of national security,” Ken Glueck, Executive Vice President at Oracle, he wrote on Sunday in a blog posted on his company’s website.
“For more than half a century, the bipartisan consensus has held that the best way to achieve American technological leadership is to regulate technology with a light touch. As a result, American companies have continued to lead each next generation of technology, from the PC to the Internet, to mobile, to the cloud, and now artificial intelligence.”
Apart from fears that they will new regulations will stifle economic growth in the domestic AI sector, some critics have also argued that blocking US AI makers from selling their computer chips around the world could actually benefit China.
“The Biden administration is trying to force other countries to choose a side — the United States or China — and they’re likely to find that if they issue this ultimatum, many will choose China,” Stephen Ezell, vice president of global innovation policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said in Tuesday’s press release published on the foundation’s website.
“Furthermore, the United States should counter the efforts of China and Russia, which they have recently launched AI Alliance Network among the BRICS countries, to offer its allies and partners access to AI data, models and computing resources,” he added.
Experts warn of dire consequences for America if China surpasses the US in its technological capabilities.
Ezell and others also pointed to the rushed nature of the new proposed export control rule, arguing that the rush to finalize it came at the cost of adequate industry input into the new regulations.
“We respectfully caution against such rapid and significant changes in policy during this transition period, and without meaningful consultation with the industry,” the Semiconductor Industry Association said in a statement on Monday. The group urged the Biden administration to turn over the “policy-making process.” the incoming Trump administration because it will “provide an adequate opportunity for government and industry leaders, along with our global partners, to carefully address this critical issue.”
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Exactly how the new administration might approach this issue is uncertain. Trump has signaled that he is not afraid to initiate new trade deals and could potentially use export controls as leverage.
However, the president-elect said after his election victory in November that the focus of his second term would be “winning the AI arms race with China (and others).”
(Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket | Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
“With US energy dominance, we will reduce inflation, win the arms race with China (and others), and expand America’s diplomatic power to end wars around the world,” Trump wrote in an email announcing former North Gov. Dakota Douga Burgum as the new head of the Department of Internal Affairs.
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Fox News Digital reached out The white house for comment, but had not received a response by the time of publication.
