Microsoft calls for Trump to ease restrictions on U.S. chip exports

Microsoft is set to ask President Donald Trump’s administration to ease restrictions on exports of advanced American AI chips. 

The tech giant wants a more lenient approach, particularly toward nations considered to be allies of the United States, such as India, Israel, and Switzerland. 

As initially reported by the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is seeking the concession to bolster progress in data centers that train AI models as part of an overhaul and simplification to the export controls process. 

Under the current arrangements, those countries referenced above are on the second level of a three-tier system. 

The WSJ report indicated the stringent framework could have negative consequences to push allies toward China to secure crucial components amid a limited supply chain from the U.S.

Restrictions imposed under the regime of President Biden were designed to maintain the American stranglehold on AI infrastructure and development and keep China at arm’s length, but in effect, it creates a tightrope. 

Trump’s team is considering further steps to toughen the existing measures.

The more other nations are not able to obtain the desired chips from U.S. sources, the more they will be attracted to a different provider. Inevitably, China will position itself as the solution to such a problem, as indicated by Microsoft.

The #US imposed a broad chip export ban, dividing the world into three tiers of access to American chips. Eighteen countries can freely import advanced US chips, but #China is completely cut off. China's calling it a hit to global #trade, and NVIDIA, Amazon, and Microsoft are… pic.twitter.com/7VcHSt5yKF

— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) January 15, 2025

Beijing is pointing to Washington’s restrictions and self-interest to position China as a more reliable long-term partner. 

“Their message is these countries can’t rely on the U.S., but China is willing to provide what they need,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith. 

“That is not good for American business or American foreign policy,” he added. 

Microsoft’s push on AI training, the power-intensive method to feed data to algorithms to increase accuracy and improve decision making, comes at a time of movement in the wider AI market, with China’s DeepSeek causing ripples with its impact last month.

Image credit: Via Grok/X

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