AI chip approvals stall

U.S. approvals for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices artificial-intelligence chip exports to China are stretching into months as the Commerce Department’s licensing office loses staff. (bloomberg.com) Bloomberg reported that the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Commerce unit that reviews sensitive exports, has lost 101 employees since 2024, a 19% drop in headcount. The same report said license processing has fallen about 25% as turnover hit the teams that write and review the rules. (bloomberg.com) The slowdown lands three months after Commerce changed its China policy on January 13, 2026. That rule moved Nvidia H200, Advanced Micro Devices MI325X and similar chips to case-by-case review instead of a blanket presumption of denial, if exporters meet security conditions. (bis.gov) That means companies can legally sell some advanced processors to approved Chinese customers, but only after Washington signs off on each shipment. When the review queue backs up, hardware tied to enterprise artificial-intelligence projects can sit idle even if the sale itself appears to fit the rules. (bis.gov) The bottleneck also hits a market both chipmakers still plan around. Nvidia said in its April 9, 2025 filing that the United States had imposed a license requirement on its H20 chip for China, Hong Kong and Macau, while Advanced Micro Devices said on February 3, 2026 that it still expected about $100 million in first-quarter 2026 MI308 sales to China. (sec.gov, amd.com) The staffing strain inside the Bureau of Industry and Security has been building since last year. Reuters reported in August 2025 that thousands of export-license applications were already delayed amid internal turmoil at the agency, including requests tied to Nvidia H20 shipments. (reuters.com) Commerce has said the January 2026 policy is meant to let sales proceed under tighter safeguards, including proof that exports will not reduce supply available to U.S. customers and that Chinese buyers have compliance procedures in place. The agency said those controls are intended to protect national security while allowing some commercial shipments. (bis.gov) For now, the practical limit is not only what the rules allow, but how fast the government can read its own paperwork. Until staffing recovers or the queue shrinks, approved China sales for artificial-intelligence servers risk moving at the speed of the license desk. (bloomberg.com)