Biden-Harris Admin Imposes New Export Controls On AI Chips

The Biden-Harris administration announced on Monday that it would restrict exports of chips used for artificial intelligence (AI) and technology, according to a White House press release.

The new regulations, which were unveiled just a week before President Joe Biden is set to leave office, will cap the number of AI chips that can be exported to most countries, according to the press release. The export controls are intended to continue “to ensure that advanced semiconductors sold abroad are not used by countries of concern to train advanced AI systems,” the announcement states.

The regulations are also aimed at strengthening “U.S. security and economic strength,” according to the press release. The rules will go into effect in 120 days, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters Sunday.

The White House warned in its announcement that the U.S. “must act decisively to lead this transition by ensuring that U.S. technology undergirds global AI use and that adversaries cannot easily abuse advanced AI.” Chip sales to 18 U.S. allies and partners will be free of restrictions, according to the press release. (RELATED: Lame Duck Biden Imposes New Russian Sanctions Now That Energy Prices, Ukraine War Escalation Won’t Hurt Dems)

“Today, countries of concern actively employ AI – including U.S.-made AI – in this way, and seek to undermine U.S. AI leadership,” according to the White House statement.

The administration’s announcement comes amid escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China. The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security on Dec. 2 announced a package of rules aimed at curbing China’s ability to produce advanced semiconductors. China swiftly retaliated against the new set of rules by announcing an export ban on certain minerals and materials critical to producing items such as semiconductors and batteries. Notably, the U.S. launched a probe into China’s semiconductor industry on Dec. 23.

The move to create new regulations before Biden’s imminent exit from office was slammed by the Semiconductor Industry Association, which wrote in a Monday press release that the rule was “rushed out the door days before a presidential transition and without any meaningful input from industry.”

“The new rule risks causing unintended and lasting damage to America’s economy and global competitiveness in semiconductors and AI by ceding strategic markets to our competitors,” the association added.

AI chips are often built specifically to handle tasks such as machine learning, data analysis and natural language processing, according to IBM. The global AI chip market size accounted for $73.27 billion in 2024, increased to $94.44 billion in 2025 and is projected to surpass about $927.76 billion by 2034, according to Precedence Research.

In anticipation of the White House’s announcement, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said on Jan. 9 in a post on X that the rules would “crush American semiconductor leadership.” Cruz also criticized the “heavy-handed restriction” that he said was “drafted in secrecy without input from Congress or American companies.”

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