The Biden-Harris Administration has introduced an Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion, aimed at bolstering U.S. national security and economic strength in the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence. This rule seeks to ensure that American technology remains at the forefront of global AI usage while preventing adversaries from misusing advanced AI systems.
The administration emphasizes the importance of retaining control over this critical technology domestically, stating that "the world’s AI runs on American rails." The rule aims to facilitate collaboration with AI companies and foreign governments to establish necessary security and trust standards for developing their AI ecosystems.
A key component of this initiative is streamlining licensing processes for chip orders, enhancing U.S. leadership in AI, and providing clear benefits for allied nations. This builds on previous efforts by tightening controls against smuggling, closing loopholes, and elevating security standards related to AI technologies.
Several mechanisms are outlined in the rule:
- No restrictions apply to chip sales for 18 key allies and partners, allowing them seamless access to large-scale purchases under robust protection regimes aligned with U.S. interests.
- Chip orders with computation power up to about 1,700 advanced GPUs do not require a license. Most orders fall into this category, notably those from universities and research institutions.
- Entities meeting high security standards can achieve "Universal Verified End User" (UVEU) status. This allows them substantial flexibility in deploying global computational capacity.
- Non-UVEU entities outside close allies can still acquire significant computational power capped at 50,000 advanced GPUs per country.
- Government-to-government arrangements foster shared values in AI development, doubling chip caps for participating nations.
To counteract threats from countries of concern, the rule imposes strict measures limiting their access to advanced AI systems and associated computing power. These include ensuring semiconductors sold abroad are not used by these countries for training advanced AI systems while allowing general-purpose application use.
This new regulation aligns with previous chip control measures from October 2022 and October 2023 and follows extensive engagement with stakeholders across various sectors.
