Rescind And Replace: Commerce Department Issues New Guidance To Curb Adversaries' Access To Advanced AI Technologies

In the last days of the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published an interim final rule (IFR) to further stem the flow of advanced computing integrated circuits (IC) and other artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to U.S. adversaries. The IFR, known as the "Framework for AI Diffusion" (which Arnold & Porter discussed in our January 2025 Advisory), would have imposed a global license requirement for the exportation of advanced ICs. The rule received significant pushback from U.S. industry. On May 12, 2025, just three days before most of the Framework for AI Diffusion's provisions were set to come into effect, BIS, now under the Trump administration, announced it would rescind the rule and issue a replacement rule at some point in the future, but offered no additional information or timeline. The next day, on May 13, 2025, BIS issued three new sets of guidance to strengthen export controls on AI chips.