The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued an interim final rule that makes a number of changes to the Export Administration Regulations designed to keep advanced artificial intelligence out of the hands of malicious actors while ensuring that entities and destinations willing to abide by certain safety and security mitigations receive access to the most advanced U.S. AI models and the large clusters of advanced computing integrated circuits necessary to train them.
Exporters will not be required to comply with most of the changes made in this rule until May 15, with the rest taking effect Jan. 15, 2026. Comments on the rule are due by May 15.
Advanced Computing Chips
According to BIS, this rule updates existing export controls on advanced computing chips by requiring authorizations for exports, reexports, and transfers (in-country) involving a broad set of additional countries. When a license is required, license applications will be reviewed under a presumption of approval until the total quantity of controlled chips exported to that country exceeds a specified allocation, after which they will be reviewed under a policy of denial. A presumption of denial remains in place for arms-embargoed countries regardless of quantity.
However, the rule also includes the following new license exceptions allowing commercial transactions that don’t pose national security risks to proceed without authorization: (1) license exception AIA (artificial intelligence authorization), which allows exports of advanced computing chips to 18 allies and partners, (2) license exception ACM (advanced compute manufacturing), which allows exports of advanced computing chips to all countries except those subject to an arms embargo for the purposes of development, production, and storage of such chips, and (3) license exception LPP (low processing performance), which allows limited amounts of compute to flow globally except to arms-embargoed countries.
Further, the rule bifurcates data center validated end-users into universal VEUs, which are U.S. and certain allied and partner country entities that may obtain a single authorization allowing them to build data centers around the world without additional authorizations (except in arms-embargoed countries), and national VEUs, which are entities headquartered outside arms-embargoed countries that may obtain an authorization allowing them to build data centers in specified locations without additional authorizations (except in arms-embargoed countries).
AI Model Weights
BIS states that this rule also institutes new export controls on the model weights of the most advanced closed-weight AI models. These controls will initially apply to the weights of models trained with 10^26 computational operations or more, and authorizations will be required to export such weights to a broad set of countries. The rule also creates a new foreign direct product rule that applies these controls to certain model weights produced abroad using advanced computing chips made with U.S. technology or equipment.
However, new license exception AIA will allow exports of otherwise controlled closed AI model weights by companies headquartered in the U.S. and certain allies and partners (except to an arms-embargoed country). Further, models with widely available model weights (i.e., open-weight models), as well as the model weights of closed models that are less powerful than the most advanced open-weight models, even if they exceed the 10^26 threshold, are not subject to controls.
BIS will also impose security conditions to ensure that the model weights of the most advanced U.S. AI models are stored outside the U.S. only under stringent security conditions and that the large clusters of advanced ICs necessary to train those models are built in destinations that pose relatively low risks of diversion or misuse.
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