Nvidia Blasts Proposed US Bill That Would Force It to Give American Buyers First Option

upstart writes:

'Doomer science fiction': Nvidia blasts proposed US bill that would force it to give American buyers 'first option' in AI GPU purchases before selling chips to other countries, including allies:

"The AI Diffusion Rule was a self-defeating policy, based on doomer science fiction, and should not be revived. Our sales to customers worldwide do not deprive U.S. customers of anything - and in fact expand the market for many U.S. businesses and industries. The pundits feeding fake news to Congress about chip supply are attempting to overturn President Trump's AI Action Plan and surrender America's chance to lead in AI and computing worldwide."

Original Article

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday unveiled a preliminary version of the annual defense policy package that includes a requirement for American developers of AI processors to prioritize domestic orders for high-performance AI processors before supplying them to overseas buyers and explicitly calls to deny exports of highest-end AI GPUs. The legislators call their initiative the Guaranteeing Access and Innovation for National Artificial Intelligence Act of 2025 (GAIN AI Act) and their goal is to ensure that American 'small businesses, start-ups, and universities' can lay their hands on the latest AI GPUs from AMD, Nvidia, etc before clients in other countries. However, if the bill becomes a law, it will hit American companies hard.

"Advanced AI chips are the jet engine that is going to enable the U.S. AI industry to lead for the next decade," said Brad Carson, president of Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI). "Globally, these chips are currently supply-constrained, which means that every advanced chip sold abroad is a chip the U.S. cannot use to accelerate American R&D and economic growth. As we compete to lead on this dual-use technology, including the GAIN AI Act in the NDAA would be a major win for U.S. economic competitiveness and national security."

This GAIN AI Act demands developers of AI processors, such as AMD or Nvidia, to give U.S. buyers first opportunity to purchase advanced AI hardware before selling to foreign nations, including allied nations like European countries or the U.K. and adversaries like China. To do so, the Act proposes to establish export controls on all 'advanced' GPUs (more on this later) to be shipped outside of the U.S. and deny export licenses on the 'most powerful chips.'

To get the export license, the exporter must confirm to certain conditions:

• U.S. customers received a right to decline first;
• There is no backlog of pending U.S. orders;
• The intended export will not cause stock delays or reduce manufacturing capacity for U.S. purchasers;
• Pricing or contract terms being offered do not favor foreign recipients over U.S. customers;
• The export will not be used by foreign entities to undercut U.S. competitors outside of their domestic market.

If one of the certifications is missing, the export request must be denied, according to the proposal.

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