Call it chip-lash: a rule limiting AI processor exports was supposed to go into effect this week. Now it’s dead in the water.
The so-called AI Diffusion Rule was put in place by the Biden administration with the aim of restricting where chips could be exported to. But President Trump’s Department of Commerce has put the kibosh on that, saying that companies like Nvidia can sell to countries like China and Russia after all.
Omar Gallaga wrote about the recent rule change for CNET and joined the Standard to discuss.
Highlights from this segment:
– The Biden administration initially instituted the rule against exporting the chips just days before China’s DeepSeek AI launched.
– While the reversal on the rule by the Trump administration follows criticism that the policy had been vague, it also follows a general trend of the current president reversing all policies from the previous Biden administration.
– Some in the tech industry were concerned the rule would have hurt startups and mid-tier companies more than larger businesses, like Nvidia itself.
