Tech group urges US to halt rule that would limit global access to AI chips
The ITI Council said the rule would place arbitrary constraints on US companies’ ability to sell computing systems overseas
A technology industry group on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden’s administration to refrain from issuing a last-minute rule that would control global access to AI chips, warning the restrictions would jeopardise US leadership in artificial intelligence.
The Information Technology Industry Council, representing companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Meta, said the rule, which could come out as soon as Friday, would place arbitrary constraints on US companies’ ability to sell computing systems overseas and cede the global market to competitors.
Reuters reported exclusive details last month on the Commerce Department’s plan for approving global AI chip exports while also preventing bad actors from accessing them. A key aim of the restrictions is to keep AI from supercharging China’s military capabilities.
In a letter to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, ITI CEO Jason Oxman criticised the administration’s “insistence” on publishing the rule in the final days of Joe Biden’s presidency. Donald Trump will be inaugurated January 20.
“Rushing a consequential and complex rule to completion could have significant adverse consequences,” Oxman said in the January 7 letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
While ITI appreciates the commitment to national security, the letter said, “the potential risks to US global leadership in AI are real and should be taken seriously”.
The group asked that any such controls be issued as proposed rule making, rather than a rule, given the significant geopolitical and economic implications.
