US Commerce Department rescinds Biden-era AI diffusion rule.

US Commerce Department rescinds Biden-era AI diffusion rule.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has officially rescinded the Biden Administration's Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Rule, which was set to come into effect on May 15. The rule, introduced by former President Joe Biden in January, imposed new export limits on U.S.-made AI chips to many countries, dividing them into three tiers with varying restrictions [1].

The DOC announced that it had instructed staff not to enforce the Biden-era regulation, stating that it plans to issue a replacement rule in the future. The new rule is expected to focus on direct negotiations with countries rather than blanket restrictions, according to reporting from Bloomberg [2].

Biden's proposed rule categorized countries into three tiers: Tier 1 (no restrictions, e.g., Japan and South Korea), Tier 2 (new chip export limits, e.g., Mexico and Portugal), and Tier 3 (tightened controls, e.g., China and Russia). The DOC has released guidance for the industry in lieu of new regulations, reminding companies that using Huawei's Ascend AI chips worldwide violates U.S. export rules and warning about the potential consequences of letting U.S. AI chips be used to train AI models in China. It also recommended ways to protect chip supply chains from diversion tactics [3].

U.S. Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Jeffery Kessler emphasized that the Trump Administration will pursue a bold, inclusive strategy to American AI technology with trusted foreign countries while keeping the technology out of the hands of adversaries. He stated that the administration rejects the Biden Administration's attempt to impose its own ill-conceived and counterproductive AI policies on the American people [1].

References:
[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-admin-officially-rescinds-bidens-155208767.html
[2] https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/13/trump-administration-officially-rescinds-bidens-ai-diffusion-rules/
[3] https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/13/trump-admin-officially-rescinds-bidens-ai-diffusion-rule/