Menu Home News Hardware Gaming Mobile Finance Deals Reviews How To Wccftech HardwareIndustry Trump Administration Plans On “Centralizing” AI Compute Power By Changing The AI Diffusion Rule; Expected To Implement a “Global Licensing Regime” Muhammad Zuhair • Apr 29, 2025 at 04:48pm EDT Well, it seems like the Trump administration won't proceed with Biden's AI diffusion rule as it is; rather, a change is expected that would likely give the US an edge. Trump's Version of the AI Diffusion Rule Would Likely Make AI Chips a Negotiating Tool For Tariffs President Trump and his Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, have taken AI supremacy as a matter of national security and have plans to use the technology as leverage to secure trade deals. In a report by Reuters, it is claimed that the US administration plans to change the Biden-era AI Diffusion rule, which is set for implementation by May 15. Instead of splitting countries into different tiers, the government plans to revise the rule to make the US a more dominant negotiating party. The AI Diffusion rule initially divided the countries to which NVIDIA's advanced AI GPUs can be exported into three categories. The first is a list of nations that are either aligned with US national security objectives or are not a threat to the US. These countries can secure the chips without any hindrance. The second category consists of hostile nations such as Russia and Iran, which are entirely barred from procuring either US-origin GPUs or AI software. Finally, the third category limits countries like India from importing large amounts of GPUs without scrutiny. Now, instead of limiting the opportunity to access the chips of nations, the administration is replacing it with a licensing scheme, which means that countries looking to access cutting-edge AI chips from the US would need a license. Ultimately, this will allow the Trump administration to nitpick which country they would want AI chips exported to, and it could be used as a negotiation tool as well, which means that the US President will have the cards to play out. Another possibility is to set a threshold for an exception to licensing. It is claimed that the administration is looking towards a "500 H100 chip" limit, after which getting a license would become mandatory. With this policy being implemented, it is clear that companies like NVIDIA will suffer a lot, given that their market presence in "unfavoured regions" by the US will be reduced dramatically, and this includes China as well. Nothing is official for now, but given that the policy's deadline is approaching soon, we are expected to see a formal announcement on the AI Diffusion rule in the coming days. Subscribe to get an everyday digest of the latest technology news in your inbox Follow us on Topics Sections Company Some posts on wccftech.com may contain affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com © 2025 WCCF TECH INC. 700 - 401 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada