NVIDIA, AMD & Others Face A.I. Chip Licensing Pressure – Report

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A fresh report from Bloomberg claims that artificial intelligence chip sales by NVIDIA and AMD to the Middle East are facing slower approval from the US as part of a bid to stop advanced semiconductor technologies from being used by the Chinese military. The Commerce Department denied similar assertions last year, and today's report comes after Microsoft President Brad Smith warned in an interview that his firm's billion dollar initiative in the Middle East could eventually lead to the transfer of advanced chips.

A Commerce representative told the publication that the organization would continue to evaluate deals for advanced technologies shipped worldwide to protect the American technology ecosystem.

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The latest report follows NVIDIA's 10-Q SEC filing in August 2023, which indicated an added interest by US government officials in its Middle Eastern sales. NVIDIA's products are among the world's top performers for advanced computing applications. Following the SEC filing, US officials denied blocking any such sales but avoided commenting on whether they had adopted any new rules to regulate them.

Yesterday's report from Bloomberg quotes, which surfaced late in the afternoon, quotes unidentified sources to share that US government license approvals to firms such as NVIDIA and AMD have slowed down. A Commerce Department spokesperson contacted by the publication did not comment on any potential slowdown, but shared that the priority behind any approval process is safeguarding US national security interests.

Today's report follows a Reuters exclusive from earlier this week, which revealed that US members of Congress were worried