President Donald Trump pledged to remove "barriers to American leadership in artificial intelligence" in a January executive order by reversing the Biden administration's precautionary approach to AI. Despite this order, the Trump administration is repeating its predecessor's mistakes by allowing export controls issued by former President Joe Biden to take effect.
Administered by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, the Framework for AI Diffusion creates a global licensing regime for closed AI models and the advanced chips used to train and run them. The bureau administers the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), which govern what American-made products may be exported based on the item, the destination, the end use, and the end user.
The framework, with which exporters must comply by May 15, amends the EAR by extending the bureau's regulatory oversight to include foreign products that are "direct products" of American technology subject to the EAR. Under the framework, the Commerce Department will also be able to regulate products made by a "complete plant or 'major component' of a plant that is a 'direct product'" of those domestic technologies.
