Regulation summary
With this interim final rule, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) revises the Export Administration Regulations’ (EAR) controls on advanced computing integrated circuits (ICs) and adds a new control on artificial intelligence (AI) model weights for certain advanced closed-weight dual-use AI models. In conjunction with the expansion of these controls, which BIS has determined are necessary to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, BIS is adding new license exceptions and updating the Data Center Validated End User authorization to facilitate the export, reexport, and transfer (in-country) of advanced computing (ICs) to end users in destinations that do not raise national security or foreign policy concerns. Together, these changes will cultivate secure ecosystems for the responsible diffusion and use of AI and advanced computing ICs.
The final rule can be found here. Although this rule is effective upon publication, exporters, reexporters, and transferors are not required to comply with the changes made in this rule until 120 days from date of publication, except that paragraphs 14, 15, and 18 of supplement no. 10 to part 748 have a delayed compliance date of 365 days from date of publication.
Please note, this document is being posted on bis.gov in advance of publication in the Federal Register. If there are any discrepancies between this document and the Interim Final Rule on Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion as published in the Federal Register, the document published in the Federal Register controls.
Public statements
- BIS’s January 13, 2025 press release on the rule is available here.
- Remarks by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo at the Inaugural convening of the International Network of AI Safety Institutes is available here.
- Remarks by Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Thea D. Rozman Kendler at the WorldECR Forum are available here.
- Watch January 15, 2025, public briefing from Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Trade, Julia Khersonsky, here.
Country Allocation Dashboard
Pursuant to § 742.6(b)(10) of the EAR, BIS is instituting specific country allocations of total processing performance (TPP) . As a result, exports and reexports of advanced ICs will be counted against the following country allocations beginning on January 1, 2025.
The following table lists the country installed base allocations of TPP and TPP licensed to date:
Last updated on January 15, 2025
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- By providing a three-year roadmap, BIS aims to give predictability to industry while reducing the risks posed by the unchecked proliferation of the most advanced AI models and largest clusters at any given time.
- BIS is not identifying specific TPP allocations for future years at this time given the evolving nature of national security requirements, the geopolitical landscape, and the AI industry.
- Requirements will include, but are not limited to: ownership security, compliance with FedRAMP High for chips and data security, AI-specific cybersecurity measures, supply chain security, personnel security, etc.
- Though the rule becomes effective upon publication, companies and other affected entities are not required to comply until 120 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register. Additionally, companies and other affected entities need not comply with paragraphs 14, 15, and 18 of supplement no. 10 to part 748 until 365 days after the date of publication.
- There are some parts of the rule, such as the license exceptions and authorizations, that will become effective on upon publication so that companies that can move quickly can take advantage of those provisions.
- The UVEU Authorization is available to companies headquartered in the countries listed in paragraph (a) to supplement no. 5 to Part 740.
- With certain limitations, companies headquartered in, or whose ultimate parent is headquartered in, all destinations worldwide except Macau or destinations specified in Country Group D:5, may apply for the NVEU Authorization.
- BIS will regularly track progress towards country allocations here.
- TPP allocations for companies that receive UVEU or NVEU authorizations are separate from specific country TPP allocations.
- For example, company ABC does not have VEU authorization. Any amount of TPP that is approved under a license application will count against the host country’s TPP allocation.
- Now company ABC becomes an NVEU. It no longer needs to apply for a license and will have its own individual company-specific TPP allocation in the host country, which will no longer count against the country TPP allocation. Chips exported to UVEUs also will not count against country allocations.
- The party that has ownership of the advanced compute should submit the universal or national Data Center VEU application.
- BIS recognizes that advanced compute data centers may involve corporate relationships in which different parties own the data center, provide physical security, own the advanced compute assemblies, provide logical security, and are able to access the compute.
- If the applicant cannot directly certify to all of the application information requested in § 748.15, it must inform BIS of the identities of other entities involved in the data center operations. Applicants may be required to obtain written assurances from those other entities during the application review process.