The departing Biden administration announced fresh regulations regarding the export of U.S. semiconductor chips to international markets.
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Nvidia (NVDA-3.12% ) on Monday quickly slammed newly released Biden administration rules to regulate chip sales to foreign countries.
The White House published a swath of new guidelines early Monday to curb the sale of AI chips from U.S. firms such as Nvidia to specific countries and companies. The administration said the rules would “strengthen U.S. security and economic strength.”
But Ned Finkle, vice president of government affairs at Nvidia, called the policies “unprecedented and misguided.” In a company blog post, he slammed the outgoing administration for jeopardizing global progress on AI.
“During its final days in power, the Biden Administration is attempting to weaken America’s global leadership by introducing a 200+ page tangled web of regulations, created behind closed doors and lacking adequate legislative scrutiny,” Finkle stated. “This extensive overreach would establish bureaucratic dominance over the design and global marketing of America’s top semiconductors, computers, systems, and even software.”
Nvidia's shares dropped nearly 3% during pre-market trading on Monday.
According to the updated regulations, 18 major U.S. allies and partners will be exempt from the imposed restrictions. Firms that adhere to stringent security and trust criteria established by the U.S. and are based in nations regarded as close allies will be eligible to acquire “Universal Verified End User” (UVEU) status. This recognition would permit them to deploy portions of their computational resources in allied nations and purchase as many as 320,000 advanced GPUs within the next two years.
Nvidia contended that these regulations are excessive and would "fail to improve U.S. security."
Finkle stated, "Instead of addressing any potential threats, the new regulations under Biden would merely diminish America's competitive edge globally, jeopardizing the innovation that has positioned the U.S. as a leader."
Simultaneously, Finkle commended the initial Trump administration for establishing "the groundwork for America's present capabilities and achievements in AI, creating a climate where U.S. businesses could compete and succeed based on merit while ensuring national security was not jeopardized."
With President-elect Donald Trump set to take office in exactly one week, Big Tech leaders from Google (GOOGL-0.80% ) chief Sundar Pichai to Meta (META+0.94% ) CEO Mark Zuckerberg have been cozying up to Trump. They’re hoping to benefit from favorable policies, more lax regulation, and a pro-innovation environment that they hope will allow them to go full steam ahead on their AI ambitions — and beyond.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang himself said last week week that he’s ready to meet with the incoming Trump administration to help with AI policy.
"I would be more than happy to visit him, extend my congratulations, and support the efforts to ensure this administration's success," Huang expressed in an interview with Bloomberg Television regarding Trump. He also mentioned that he has not received an invitation to meet with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
