US export bottleneck for AI chips

U.S. approvals for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices artificial-intelligence chips are slowing as the Commerce Department office that signs export licenses loses staff and pushes decisions up to senior officials. (bloomberg.com) Bloomberg reported on April 10 that the Bureau of Industry and Security has lost 101 employees since 2024, a 19% drop, and turnover among licensing and rulemaking staff is nearing 20%. The same report said reviews that once took weeks are now stretching into months. (finance.yahoo.com) The bureau is the Commerce Department unit that decides whether sensitive U.S. goods can be shipped abroad. Its published fiscal 2023 annual report said it processed nearly 38,000 license applications with an average processing time of 38 days. (bis.gov) By the first half of 2025, average turnaround had risen to 76 days, according to Bloomberg’s reporting on agency records and interviews with more than 20 people familiar with the process. Bloomberg also said processed licenses had fallen about 25% as senior officials took a larger role in individual approvals. (ttnews.com) The bottleneck hits chips that sit at the center of the United States-China technology fight. On April 9, 2025, the U.S. government told Nvidia it would need a license to export its H20 chip to China and several other destinations, and Nvidia later said it expected a $5.5 billion charge tied to inventory and commitments. (cnbc.com) Advanced Micro Devices said on April 16, 2025 that the same license requirement applied to its MI308 products and that it expected an $800 million hit from inventory, purchase commitments and related reserves. A Commerce Department spokesperson said at the time that the new requirement covered Nvidia’s H20, Advanced Micro Devices’ MI308 and equivalent chips. (cnbc.com, usnews.com) Those chips are specialized accelerators, which are processors built to handle the matrix math used to train and run artificial-intelligence systems. Washington has kept tightening controls on the fastest versions and then forcing companies to seek case-by-case permission for lower-tier models designed for China. (millerchevalier.com, techcrunch.com) The slowdown also reaches beyond China. Bloomberg said backlogs now cover billions of dollars in exports, including shipments intended for U.S. allies, while the same bureau is also handling tariff investigations ordered by President Donald Trump. (bloomberg.com) The Commerce Department defended the tougher review last year, saying the Bureau of Industry and Security would no longer “rubber-stamp” applications that raise national-security concerns. For chipmakers and overseas buyers, that means the formal rule is only part of the story; the staffing and paperwork now shape how fast any approval arrives. (aol.com)