Some technology companies and industry groups were supportive of an ongoing effort by the Bureau of Industry’s Security to stop advanced artificial intelligence models from being used by dangerous end-users, but many also said the agency’s proposed know-your-customer regulations for U.S. cloud service providers should be tweaked or rewritten. Others said the new KYC rules could place too heavy a burden on cloud service providers and could undermine trust in American providers.
A bipartisan group of four House members, including Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, introduced a bill last week that they said would help the Bureau of Industry and Security control exports of artificial intelligence systems and other new national security-related technologies.
Scott Douglas, a former senior special agent with the Bureau of Industry and Security, has joined Argonne National Laboratory as an export security and compliance analyst, he announced this week on LinkedIn. Douglas retired from BIS in January after 21 years with the agency.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added 37 Chinese technology companies, manufacturing firms, research institutions and others to the Entity List for trying to acquire U.S.-export controlled items for China’s military or quantum technology capabilities, shipping controlled items to Russia, or for their ties to a “High Altitude Balloon” that the U.S. shot down last year.
China on May 7 voiced its opposition to the U.S. reportedly revoking the export licenses that Intel and Qualcomm use to sell certain semiconductors to Huawei (see 2405070081). The Ministry of Commerce said the move violates World Trade Organization commitments, according to an unofficial translation.
Several important authorities that the Bureau of Industry and Security has under the Defense Production Act will expire in September 2025 if the DPA isn't reauthorized, a BIS official said May 8.
The Bureau of Industry and Security needs more help from companies to stop Russia from acquiring export controlled semiconductors and other microelectronics, Matthew Axelrod, the agency’s top export enforcement official, said May 8 during a semiconductor summit hosted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. The joint Commerce Department-DOJ Disruptive Technology Strike Force has helped the government pool resources to investigate and prosecute export control violations, “but even this impactful coordinated effort across government enforcement agencies is, by itself, insufficient to meet the national security moment we’re facing,” Axelrod said. “[F]rankly, we need everyone to do more.”
The Biden administration, which announced in August 2023 that it would develop restrictions on outbound investment in China (see 2308090066), expects to finalize the new regulations by the end of calendar year 2024, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said May 8.
The Bureau of Industry and Security named Eric Longnecker, former head of the agency’s Office of Strategic Industries and Economic Security, the new deputy assistant secretary for technology security, he announced on LinkedIn. Longnecker, who has worked at BIS for nearly 20 years, announced his new role May 6.
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