On January 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published an interim final rule amending the Export
Administration Regulations (EAR) to place new restrictions on the
export of certain software specially designed for automating the
analysis of geospatial imagery and collections of data points.
This new rule sheds light on U.S. government concerns regarding
the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to the analysis of
increasingly available, large geospatial data sets, and the
specific role it can play in remotely detecting and identifying
objects of interest for military and intelligence purposes. The use
of an emergency authorization to make these controls effective
immediately also underscores the perceived urgency in controlling
the transfer of this technology to non-allied countries. In
addition to their impact on U.S. trade, the new restrictions will
have important implications for reviews of foreign investment
