Export Approvals Are Slowing
A report says approvals for Nvidia and AMD AI chip exports to China have stalled because staffing at the Bureau of Industry and Security has deteriorated, lengthening approval times as turnover rises. The delay frames export control processing as an operational bottleneck for hardware suppliers. (startupnews.fyi)
U.S. approvals for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices artificial intelligence chip exports to China are stretching into months as staffing losses slow the Commerce Department office that signs off on them. (ttnews.com) The office is the Bureau of Industry and Security, which reviews exports of “dual-use” goods that can serve civilian and military ends, including advanced chips. A June 2025 Government Accountability Office report said the bureau had not done long-term workforce planning even as its workload expanded. (gao.gov) Bloomberg, cited by multiple outlets on April 10 and April 14, reported that the bureau lost dozens of experienced employees in the past year, amounting to nearly 20% turnover among rulemaking and licensing staff. The same reporting said processed licenses across industries fell by about 25% last year. (ttnews.com) (finance.yahoo.com) The slowdown follows a policy change that reopened a path for some high-end chip sales to China. On January 13, 2026, the Bureau of Industry and Security said it would review applications for Nvidia H200, Advanced Micro Devices MI325X, and similar chips on a case-by-case basis if applicants met security conditions. (bis.gov) That means the bottleneck is no longer only the rulebook. Companies can apply, but the government still has to process each case, and the bureau said on April 7 it was extending one chip-designer deadline through December 31, 2026 to give itself more time to handle applications. (bis.gov 1) (bis.gov 2) The stakes are commercial as well as strategic. Advanced Micro Devices told investors in February 2026 that its first-quarter guidance included about $100 million of Instinct MI308 sales to China. (ir.amd.com) China is also becoming a harder market to win back. Reuters reported on April 1 that Chinese chipmakers captured nearly 41% of China’s artificial intelligence accelerator server market in 2025, cutting into Nvidia’s position as local buyers shifted toward domestic suppliers. (finance.yahoo.com) The Bureau of Industry and Security sits at the center of a larger interagency process. The Government Accountability Office said license applications are also reviewed by the Departments of Defense, Energy, and State, which means staffing problems at the lead office can ripple through the whole system. (gao.gov) The Commerce Department has not publicly announced a broad freeze on these chip licenses. But with case-by-case reviews now in place and approvals taking longer, the practical limit on Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices sales to China is increasingly how fast Washington can process its own paperwork. (bis.gov) (ttnews.com)
