Microsoft (MSFT.US) reportedly requested Trump to ease restrictions on the export of AI chips.

Microsoft (MSFT.US) is reportedly seeking the Trump administration to ease and streamline a new system that would limit the sale of advanced US-made artificial intelligence chips to most of the world. Specifically, Microsoft will urge the Trump team to relax restrictions on chips used in data centers to train artificial intelligence models, which would no longer apply to US allies including India, Switzerland, and Israel, which are in the second tier of a three-tier system supporting export controls. Microsoft noted that the unintended consequence of the proposed tiered system is that US allies with limited chip supplies would turn to China to get the necessary technology infrastructure. Microsoft president Brad Smith said in an interview that China is using the proposed rules to tell other countries that it will be a better long-term partner for artificial intelligence infrastructure than the US. However, Smith also noted that Microsoft supports some aspects of the rules, such as some export licensing requirements, and that countries in the third tier of the system would not get access to artificial intelligence chips.