US Mulls Global Export Controls on Nvidia and AMD AI Chips
Trump administration considers requiring Commerce Department approval for every Nvidia and AMD chip shipment worldwide.
The Trump administration is weighing a dramatic expansion of AI chip export controls that would cover the entire globe. Under the proposed rules, every shipment of Nvidia and AMD processors to any country would need Commerce Department sign-off.
That's a massive escalation from existing restrictions, which target specific nations. The new framework would essentially make the US government a gatekeeper for the world's most critical AI hardware.
Nvidia has effectively served as the kingmaker of the AI industry, with its chips powering the vast majority of cutting-edge AI training. Slapping universal export controls on those processors would give Washington unprecedented leverage over global AI development.
The proposal is still under consideration. But if enacted, it would reshape how AI compute gets distributed worldwide — turning chip access into a formal instrument of US policy.