The start of the Trump administration has been characterized by an aggressive revamp of the federal government’s approach to artificial intelligence. During the first week, Trump published two executive orders focused on reversing Biden’s heavy-handed approach to AI. As the new admin looks into erasing other Biden-era mistakes, it should prioritize and reevaluate the recent AI export control rules drafted by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.

This rulemaking will likely become a costly unforced error that most Americans will look back on with deep regret.
These rules would enact stringent export controls for various AI-related goods and services for all, except for a handful of countries deemed “low-risk.” Additionally, AI companies would be required to file and process extensive paperwork when exporting products or services abroad, and they will be subject to export caps. These restrictions would apply to essentially every country in the world, except the United Kingdom, most of the European Union, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.
The Biden administration argued that this new rule would prevent AI technology from falling into the wrong hands — namely, adversarial nations. But, this rule will seriously constrain the growth of American companies and the U.S. economy. Burdening the industry with onerous licensing regimes and capping its sales will severely limit companies’ ability to expand to other markets thus reducing their global reach and stifling their ability to grow. It will also likely end up going against its stated objective and empower the Chinese AI industry, which can take advantage of the reduced presence of American companies in global markets.
Unsurprisingly, AI companies have already voiced their opposition to the rule. Their reasoning is simple: the added paperwork and trade restrictions will increase their prices and slow down the distribution of their products, making American AI products less competitive globally. Howeve...