US Export Controls (BIS)
Commerce/BIS rules gating advanced AI chips & tools to China and beyond
The Bureau of Industry and Security administers the escalating controls (Oct 2022, Oct 2023, Dec 2024, and 2025 actions) restricting exports of advanced GPUs (A100/H100 and successors), HBM, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China. In 2025 policy whipsawed: an 'AI Diffusion Rule' tiering global access was rescinded, an H20 sales ban to China was imposed then partially relaxed under a ~15% revenue-sharing arrangement, and entity-list and end-use rules expanded. BIS is the single most powerful control point over who can build frontier AI, making it a true geopolitical chokepoint.
Agency
Commerce / BIS
Targets
advanced GPUs, HBM, SME
2025
H20 ban then 15% revenue-share deal
How it fits the stack
US Export Controls (BIS) with what it depends on (above) and what it feeds (below). The figure renders as a crawlable diagram and upgrades to an interactive 3D graph as it scrolls into view.
US Export Controls (BIS) in the AI stack. US Export Controls (BIS) with its immediate upstream dependencies (top) and downstream dependents (bottom) in the AI value chain. Hover a node in 3D, or read the full relationships below.
Graph data (text) — 6 entities, 5 relationships
- US Export Controls (BIS) —supplies→ Epoch AI
- Defense & government AI —depends on→ US Export Controls (BIS)
- HUMAIN —depends on→ US Export Controls (BIS)
- US Export Controls (BIS) —partners with→ Japan (METI / Rapidus)
- US Export Controls (BIS) —partners with→ US AI policy (2025 EO / AI Action Plan)
Depends on ↑ · 1
Context — capital, rivals, policy · · 29