The Biden administration is weighing a limit on sales of artificial intelligence chips made by NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) on a per-country basis, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Officials discussed imposing limited export licenses on some countries, likely cutting off their exposure to advancements in AI technology, the Bloomberg report said. The restrictions are being considered in the interest of national security, and are focused on countries in the Middle East and Persian Gulf.
It was not clear whether the restrictions would be imposed during President Joe Biden’s term. The potential sales impact of any restrictions was also not immediately clear.
The U.S. already has restrictions in place for AI chip sales to China, citing concerns over national security. The restrictions were imposed over the past year, amid the growing popularity of generative AI programs.
While Nvidia still supplies some AI chips to China, they are made specifically with U.S. export restrictions in mind, and are specced lower than the company’s flagship AI chips.
Interest in AI investment has been growing among Gulf countries, particularly in developing AI infrastructure and gaining a foothold in the fast-growing sector.
