Articles of Interest: May 3-9, 2025
- The Prometheus Security Project Team
- May 10
- 3 min read
Karen Freifeld and Arsheeya Bajwa, Reuters. May 7, 2025.
The Trump administration plans to rescind and replace a Biden-era rule restricting global exports of advanced AI chips. The Biden policy divided the world into three tiers: unlimited chips for close allies, capped exports for about 120 countries, and a ban for countries that were considered concerns like China and Russia. The Biden era system was described as “overly complex” and as such the new administration will likely seek to simplify these export controls with a new system centered around trade negotiations on a “country-to-country” basis.
By rejecting a policy that carefully calibrated chip flows to different countries, the Trump team appears to favor a more binary approach to technology control that emphasizes direct bilateral relationships over multilateral frameworks. This new system will likely improve commercial opportunities for U.S companies selling abroad, like Nvidia. Whether this decision has been made in part due to the lobbying efforts of large tech companies is difficult to know, but would not be surprising.
The proposed shift toward government-to-government agreements rather than predetermined categories signals a preference for “deal-making” flexibility over predictable regulatory frameworks. The Trump administration is likely to favor the deal making approach as they believe that is a skill President Trump excels in. This approach gives the administration greater discretion to adjust chip access based on diplomatic priorities and leverage, potentially turning technology export permissions into bargaining chips in broader negotiations. For the global AI landscape, this creates significant uncertainty about future access to cutting-edge hardware and whether or not the current administration will use this method as a negotiation/coercion method.
Freifeld, Karen and Bajwa, Arsheeya. "Trump administration to rescind and replace Biden-era global AI chip export curbs." Reuters, May 7, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-administration-will-rescind-biden-era-ai-chip-export-curbs-bloomberg-news-2025-05-07/.
The Economist News Desk, The Economist. May 5, 2025.
Part of the United States’s efforts to maintain dominance of the AI development race involves prohibiting the sale of microprocessors to China. Microprocessors are necessary for AI development and China seeks to gain control of as many of them as possible. Despite the Trump administration’s attempt to stop Nvidia’s microchips from going to China, smuggling has ensured that banned microchips still arrive in Chinese labs.
On May 5th, The Economist published a report highlighting how China is still gaining access to microprocessors that were banned from China by the United States government. Nvidia produces microprocessors that are designed to get around the US tech blockade for China, including the H20 chip. Several Chinese companies, such as ByteDance, have offices in Johor, Malaysia. These companies gain access to American-made microchips that are exported there. Additionally, other private contractors smuggle AI chips directly into China by falsifying manifests on their ships. This smuggling and export controls evasion has proven very useful for Chinese companies.
Because the United States has underfunded the agencies ordered to stop this, such as the Bureau of Industry and Security, the microchip flow to China continues. This can have a calamitous impact on the race to develop AI systems. As fears of a Chinese attack on Taiwan grow, anxiety about China’s access to microprocessors has also grown. Some analysts have argued for increased tracking of where microprocessors are going. Others have advocated international treaties restricting the trade of microchip technology. Until solutions like these are implemented, smuggling of AI chips to China is likely to increase.
The Economist News Desk. “How China Is Still Getting Its Hands on Nvidia’s Gear.” The Economist, May 5, 2025. https://www.economist.com/business/2025/05/05/how-china-is-still-getting-its-hands-on-nvidias-gear?giftId=bc7d4171-2aca-4cd1-94d2-2ecd51d660a7&utm_campaign=gifted_article.
Juliana Kim, NPR. May 7, 2025.
Through the use of artificial intelligence, a victim impact statement in video form was generated for Christopher Pelkey, an Arizona man who was fatally shot in 2021. His sister, Stacey Wells, compiled information to create this AI video, and has claimed that the process was healing.
This case lacks precedent, and personally helped the victim’s family and friends heal in its utilization. The use of AI-generated videos could be effective in the courtroom proceedings for certain cases, however, could turn into a negative impact going forward. As seen with deep fakes in the past, the use of AI in this manner could cause more harm than good. Considering that there are no prior cases of this technology, the closest example could be seen in the way film-makers proceed in including actors that have passed away in real life by still featuring their likeness in movies through the use of AI. In some ways, it ties loose ends, but at what cost?
Kim, Juliana. “After an Arizona man was shot, an AI video of him addresses his killer in court.” NPR, May 7, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/g-s1-64640/ai-impact-statement-murder-victim.
