Trump’s AI Action Plan aims to block chip exports to China but lacks key details

The Trump administration wants its AI technology to be considered an industry leader both on home soil and abroad. But it also doesn’t want the U.S.’s AI prowess to empower or embolden a foreign adversary.

That’s quite the balance to strike.

If President Trump’s AI Action Plan, which was released on Wednesday, is any indicator, the administration seems to still be figuring out the right course of action to achieve those goals.

“​​America currently is the global leader on data center construction, computing hardware performance, and models,” the plan stated. “It is imperative that the United States leverage this advantage into an enduring global alliance, while preventing our adversaries from free-riding on our innovation and investment.”

The plan mentions strengthening AI chip export controls through “creative approaches” followed by a pair of policy recommendations.

The first calls on government organizations, including the Department of Commerce and National Security Council, to work with the AI industry on chip location verification features. The second is a recommendation to establish an effort to figure out enforcement for potential chip export restrictions; notably, it mentions that while the U.S. and allies impose export controls on major systems required for chip manufacturing, there isn’t a focus on many of the component sub-systems — a hint at where the administration wants the DOC to direct its attention.

The AI Action plan also talks about how the U.S. will need to find alignment in this area with its global allies.

“America must impose strong export controls on sensitive technologies,” the plan states. “We should encourage partners and allies to follow U.S. controls, and not backfill. If they do, America should use tools such as the Foreign Direct Product Rule and secondary tariffs to achieve greater international alignment.”

The AI Action plan never gets into detail on exactly how it will achieve Al global alliances, coordinate with allies on export chip restrictions, or work with U.S.-based AI companies on chip location verification features. Instead, the AI Action plans lay out what foundational building blocks are required for future sustainable AI chip export guidelines, as opposed to policies implemented on top of existing guidelines.

The upshot: chip export restrictions are going to take more time. And there’s ample evidence, beyond the AP Action plan, to suggest it will. For instance, the Trump administration has contradicted itself multiple times on its export restriction strategy in the past few months — including just last week.

In July, the administration gave semiconductor firms, like Nvidia and AMD, the green light to start selling AI chips they had developed for China, just months after rolling out licensing restrictions on the same AI chips that effectively pulled Nvidia out of the Chinese market.

The administration also formally rescinded the Biden administration’s AI Diffusion Rule in May, just days before it was supposed to go into effect. The AI Diffusion rule put a cap on how much  AI computing capacity some countries were allowed to buy.

The Trump administration is expected to sign multiple executive orders July 23. Whether these will contain detailed plans on how it will reach its goals is unclear.

While the AI Action Plan talks at length about figuring out how to expand the U.S. AI market globally, while maintaining dominance, it’s light on the specifics. Any executive order regarding chip export restrictions will likely be about getting the proper government departments together to figure out a path forward, as opposed to formal guidelines, quite yet.