President Donald Trump plans to rescind former President Joe Biden's AI diffusion rule that placed additional export controls on U.S. advanced technology.
Ensuring U.S. companies are able to sell their AI products globally will be a critical measure of success in the global AI race, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said during a Thursday hearing on maintaining the lead in AI held by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Cruz, committee chairman, said Trump confirmed that he plans to rescind Biden's AI diffusion rule, which raised concerns among AI companies due to the restrictions it placed on their ability to sell semiconductor chips and software, including AI models, to other countries.
"Biden's misguided, midnight AI diffusion rule on chips and model weights would have crippled American tech companies' ability to sell AI to the world," Cruz said. "The Biden plan would've handed over key markets to China."
Biden's misguided, midnight AI diffusion rule on chips and model weights would have crippled American tech companies' ability to sell AI to the world.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)
Along with rescinding the AI diffusion rule, U.S. leaders may need to rethink export controls more broadly, testified Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
Rethinking export controls
Su said the semiconductor industry understands the importance of national security. However, she said it's also important to have widespread, global adoption of U.S. technologies.
The U.S. placed export controls on advanced semiconductors and AI models during the Biden administration, restrictions that would have been furthered by the AI diffusion rule set to take effect later this month.
"We lead today because we have the best technology," Su said. "However, if we're not able to fully have our technology adopted in the rest of the world, there will be other technologies that will come into play."
Michael Intrator, CEO of cloud AI platform vendor CoreWeave, testified that export controls and trade agreements can be "calibrated to both address national security risks and support global diffusion of American AI technology."
That was echoed by Microsoft President Brad Smith, who said that if the U.S. plans to succeed in leading the world in the AI race, it requires investing in AI infrastructure through permitting reform and educating skilled workers, as well as boosting U.S. companies' ability to export and "connect with the world."
"Our global leadership relies on our ability to serve the world with the right approach to export controls and always, especially in technology, in our ability to sustain the trust of the rest of the world," Smith said.
Focusing on AI infrastructure
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said during the hearing that investing in the AI supply chain -- including electricity, chips, AI training facilities and data centers -- will keep the U.S. dominant in AI.
"We've got to do that really well in the U.S. so we can continue to innovate, continue to lead and continue to shape this revolution," he said about the global AI race.
Intrator said the U.S. must boost investment in energy infrastructure to support new factories and data centers powering AI models. He said the U.S. needs to accelerate permitting reforms to facilitate faster construction projects.
Committee ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said during the hearing that having greater electricity access, data centers and a skilled workforce to support growing infrastructure needs in the U.S. will be key to the U.S. winning the AI race. She said she also believes continued investment in federal agencies like the National Science Foundation will play a critical role in continued AI research and development.
Cruz lambasted the Biden administration's AI efforts, including Biden's executive order on AI, which Trump rescinded earlier this year. Cruz said, "harmful regulations take many forms," including guidance documents issued by federal agencies on AI use.
Cruz said he plans to release a new bill creating a regulatory sandbox for AI that will "remove barriers to AI adoption, prevent needless state overregulation and allow the AI supply chain to rapidly grow here in the United States."
Makenzie Holland is a senior news writer covering big tech and federal regulation. Prior to joining Informa TechTarget, she was a general assignment reporter for the Wilmington StarNews and a crime and education reporter at the Wabash Plain Dealer.
