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Republican Lawmakers Urge Reversal of Biden’s AI Export Controls

By  |  April 14, 2025

Seven Republican senators have called on the Trump administration to retract a new regulation, the AI Diffusion rule, limiting international access to advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips, warning that the policy could undermine America’s competitive edge in emerging technologies. The appeal was made in a letter addressed to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, as reported by Reuters.

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    The AI Diffusion rule was issued on January 13 and is slated to take effect on May 15. It establishes a tiered system to regulate foreign access to U.S.-made AI chips, based on the perceived security and trade risks of different countries. Only 18 nations are granted the most favorable access—conditional on their compliance with what the senators describe as “burdensome regulations.” Notably, key U.S. allies such as Israel are excluded from this top tier, per Reuters.

    According to the letter obtained by Reuters, the senators argue that the AI Diffusion rule could stall domestic innovation and disrupt existing international partnerships. “Every day this rule remains in place, American companies face mounting uncertainty, stalled investments, and the risk of losing critical global partnerships that cannot be easily regained,” the letter states.

    Read more: EU Sets Out Plan to Close the AI Gap with US and China

    The lawmakers are pressing for “immediate action,” urging the Commerce Department to withdraw the rule and craft an alternative that would better balance national security concerns with the need to support U.S. AI industry. They emphasized that any revised framework should still prevent China from gaining dominance in cutting-edge technologies, without restricting American firms unnecessarily.

    Signatories of the letter include Senators Pete Ricketts, Thom Tillis, Markwayne Mullin, Ted Budd, Roger Wicker, Eric Schmitt, and Tommy Tuberville.

    Source: Reuters