US export bottleneck grows
Approvals for Nvidia and AMD AI chip exports to China are stalling because the Commerce Department’s licensing office has lost nearly a fifth of its staff and senior leaders are signing off on many licences directly. The report says this staffing squeeze is delaying approvals for critical AI hardware transfers. (tomshardware.com)
The office that approves United States exports of Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices artificial intelligence chips has lost nearly one in five staff, and license reviews for China are slipping into months. (bloomberg.com) Bloomberg reported that the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security has lost 101 employees, or about 19% of its workforce, over the past year. The same report said processed licenses fell roughly 25% as senior officials began signing off on many applications themselves. (bloomberg.com) That backlog is hitting applications for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices chips bound for China, where sales now require case-by-case approval. Nvidia disclosed on April 9, 2025 that the United States government had imposed a license requirement on its H20 chip for China, Hong Kong, and Macau. (sec.gov) The bottleneck sits inside a system Washington has been tightening for more than three years. The Bureau of Industry and Security said on October 17, 2023 that it expanded restrictions on advanced computing semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment aimed at China and other arms-embargoed countries. (bis.gov) Those rules matter because Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices have built China-specific chips to stay inside export limits, but those products still depend on licenses when the rules change. Nvidia said in its fiscal 2025 annual report that China data center revenue remained “well below” pre-October 2023 levels even after growth during the year. (investor.nvidia.com) The delays also cut across President Donald Trump’s stated push to expand overseas sales of United States artificial intelligence hardware. Bloomberg reported that industry officials, lawyers, and former government staff said the licensing office is handling a bigger workload with fewer experienced reviewers and less policy direction. (bloomberg.com) Export licenses are the gatekeepers in this market: a chip can be legal to sell in theory but still blocked in practice until Commerce signs the paperwork. Export Compliance Daily reported on April 8 that the Bureau of Industry and Security had to extend a deadline tied to one semiconductor licensing carveout, another sign that the office is struggling to keep pace. (exportcompliancedaily.com) The companies have already warned investors that China controls can hit revenue directly. Nvidia said the April 2025 H20 restriction could lead to a charge of up to about $5.5 billion tied to inventory, purchase commitments, and related reserves. (sec.gov) For now, the immediate problem is not a new ban but a slower pipeline. As long as staffing stays down and top officials keep pulling license decisions upward, even approved chip sales can remain stuck in Washington. (bloomberg.com)
