Suddenly retracting the "AI chip export license" draft, the Trump administration's regulation faces new uncertainties!
The draft originally involved a case-by-case review mechanism for chip giants such as NVIDIA and AMD, which was promoted as an alternative after the Trump administration abolished the Biden-era "Artificial Intelligence Dissemination Framework." The officials did not specify the reason for the withdrawal, only stating that the related discussions are still in the preliminary stage
The U.S. Department of Commerce has withdrawn a proposed regulation that aimed to implement licensing controls on AI chip exports.
On Friday, the website of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updated its status, indicating that the interdepartmental review process for the regulation has concluded and the measure has been withdrawn, but no further details were provided.
According to reports citing officials from the Trump administration, the withdrawn document was merely a draft, and discussions related to it were still in the preliminary stages.
The draft originally marked a significant step taken by the Trump administration in formulating global chip export regulations, involving export approval mechanisms for major chip manufacturers such as NVIDIA and AMD. However, with the withdrawal of the draft, uncertainty regarding the direction of U.S. chip export controls will persist.
Why the Draft Was Withdrawn
The aforementioned draft required the U.S. Department of Commerce's licensing office to conduct case-by-case reviews of AI chip exports involving NVIDIA and AMD, with approval conditions covering various factors such as intergovernmental agreements and the computing power scale sought by end users.
According to previous reports from Bloomberg, there was a possibility that the draft could be significantly revised or completely shelved.
The Trump administration had previously made it clear that it would draw a line with the regulatory path of the previous administration. The U.S. Department of Commerce stated last week:
We will not revert to the Biden administration's AI Diffusion Framework, which is cumbersome, overreaching, and has serious consequences.
The AI Diffusion Framework is an export control rule introduced by the Biden administration in January 2025, aimed at controlling the global flow of advanced AI chips and model weights through a three-tier licensing system.
After taking office, the Trump administration criticized the framework for "stifling innovation" and "imposing a heavy regulatory burden on businesses," and officially announced its repeal in May 2025.
The withdrawn draft was an alternative solution promoted by the Trump administration to fill the policy gap after the repeal of the Biden-era regulatory framework. The withdrawal of the draft indicates that the new global chip export control system of the Trump administration is still in the process of formation, and the final framework remains to be clarified.
