Uncertainty and doubt as US changes GPU export rules again

In an earlier report, Uptime Intelligence described in detail how the US government’s rules on the export and use of GPUs — essential for developing AI training models — would be applied and likely affect IT and data center companies (see AI supremacy: how will the new US GPU export controls work?). Even then, it was viewed as possible, if not likely, that the new US administration would revise these rules.

This has now happened. In a sudden policy U-turn, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), an agency of the US Department of Commerce, announced on May 13 that it will not enforce current export regulations on advanced chips — which primarily target high-performance data center GPUs — just two days before compliance requirements were set to begin on May 15. What kind of policy will succeed the suspended controls remains unclear, even to government officials.