Chip export approvals stall

U.S. approvals for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices artificial-intelligence chip exports are slowing as the Commerce Department’s export-control bureau loses staff and piles up reviews. (finance.yahoo.com) The Bureau of Industry and Security has shed 101 employees since 2024, a 19% drop, according to a Bloomberg analysis cited by Yahoo Finance. The same report said Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler has been personally reviewing nearly every license application, adding another bottleneck. (finance.yahoo.com) The holdups reach beyond China. Bloomberg, as summarized by Yahoo Finance, said licenses tied to Nvidia shipments to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a 25% duty framework for H200 sales to approved Chinese customers, and Advanced Micro Devices MI308 approvals all pass through the same office. (finance.yahoo.com) The agency was already handling a heavy caseload before the latest staffing losses. In fiscal year 2023, the Bureau of Industry and Security processed 37,943 license applications, approved 85% of them, denied 2%, and averaged 38 days per application. (bis.gov) Artificial-intelligence chips are the processors used to train and run large models, and Washington has treated the most advanced versions as strategic exports since October 2022. Those rules have been revised several times, including a Biden-era “Artificial Intelligence Diffusion” framework issued on January 15, 2025 and rescinded by the Commerce Department on May 13, 2025 before it took effect. (bis.gov) That May 2025 move replaced one set of restrictions with new guidance, including a warning from the Bureau of Industry and Security that using certain Huawei Ascend chips could trigger export-control liability under General Prohibition 10. The guidance said those advanced-computing chips were “likely developed or produced” in violation of U.S. controls. (bis.gov) Critics say the rule changes have become hard for allies and customers to track. In an April 13, 2026 opinion piece, Arindam Goswami wrote that Washington is using chip access in one-on-one negotiations instead of stable alliance rules, creating a chokepoint for partner countries as well as China. (moneycontrol.com) At the same time, Huawei’s position is changing from target to potential supplier. Huawei Central reported on April 13, 2026 that White House artificial-intelligence adviser David Sacks said China is now about 1.5 to 2 years behind the United States in chip design and packaging, down from roughly five years, and said Huawei could soon export Ascend chips globally. (huaweicentral.com) For Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and their customers, the immediate problem is less the text of any single rule than the pace of getting an answer. The Bureau of Industry and Security was built to review sensitive exports one license at a time, and that queue is now colliding with a global race to buy artificial-intelligence hardware. (bis.gov, finance.yahoo.com)