Old Joe has cancelled his trip to Italy and Harris has aborted her trip to Singapore, both of which seemed more than odd given they have both been booted out of office and that they, particularly Harris a former governor of California, has a crisis at home. One has to wonder, cynically, how many of those "Celebrities" who endorsed her are victims of the huge fires.

But, aside from the dubious pardons that Biden seems to be delivering like drool, there's the question of a swansong. Knowing full well that anything that might provide constraints on business is likely to be overturned by Trump by, say, the 22nd January, a last minute decision over "artificial intelligence" would attract attention and, if it can be interpreted as promoting American commerce at the expense of the Chinese, so be it.

So, by attaching tech to national security (as was done decades ago over the export of RSA encryption), Biden-Harris, hyphenated as per the US Department of Commerce, might hope to create something that will survive Trump's swingeing removal of their efforts.

This is what the notice starts with:
" Today, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced controls on advanced computing chips and certain closed artificial intelligence (AI) model weights, alongside new license exceptions and updates to the Data Center Validated End User (VEU) authorization. This new regulation serves key U.S. national security and foreign policy interests and supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader strategy to cultivate a secure and trusted technology ecosystem for the responsible use and diffusion of AI."

It goes on: “This policy will help build a trusted technology ecosystem around the world and allow us to protect against the national security risks associated with AI, while ensuring controls do not stifle innovation or US technological leadership,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “Managing these very real national security risks requires taking into account the evolution of AI technology, the capabilities of our adversaries, and the desire of our allies to share in the benefits of this technology. We’ve done that with this rule, and it will help safeguard the most advanced AI technology and help ensure it stays out of the hands of our foreign adversaries, while we continue to broadly share the benefits with partner countries.”

So, approved countries are those who are demonstrably alligned with the USA rather than China: Taiwan, Korea, the Five Eyes countries, etc.

Singapore, Malaysia and others with strong relationships with China are excluded.

"“The United States has a national security responsibility to preserve and extend American AI leadership, and to ensure that American AI can benefit people around the world. Today, we are announcing a rule that ensures frontier AI training infrastructure remains in the United States and closely allied countries, while also facilitating the diffusion of American AI globally,” said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. “The rule both provides greater clarity to our international partners and to industry, and counters the serious circumvention and related national security risks posed by countries of concern and malicious actors who may seek to use the advanced American technologies against us.”

“AI has been rapidly progressing over the last decade and will only grow more powerful, resulting in the emergence of highly capable models with significant dual-use applications,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan F. Estevez. “This rule will protect national security and advance U.S. foreign policy by ensuring the responsible diffusion of frontier AI technology across the world.”

“Export controls provide a unique tool to address the quintessential dual-use nature of artificial intelligence,” said Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Matthew Borman. “Through today’s actions, we ensure the secure spread of AI capabilities, countering the potential for their use in weapons systems and other military activities contrary to U.S. national security. By doing so, we are creating paths that enable trusted partners to use this advanced technology for the benefit of civil society.”

There is one thing that WMLR can stand behind: "Over the past decade, AI models have shown striking performance improvements across many domains, giving everyday people increased access to tools that previously required specialized skills. As models continue to improve, this increased access will enable malicious actors to engage in activities that pose profound risks to U.S. national security and foreign policy, including enabling the development of chemical or biological weapons; supporting powerful offensive cyber operations; and further aiding human rights abuses, including mass surveillance."

But, let's be clear: mass surveiilance is exactly what Facebook / Meta and Google, etc. routinely do.

"Today’s announcement seeks to keep advanced AI models out of the hands of malicious actors while also ensuring that secure and responsible foreign entities and destinations will have access to the most advanced U.S. AI models, and to the large clusters of advanced computing integrated circuits (ICs) necessary to train those models. Entities and destinations that are willing to abide by certain safety and security mitigations will receive access to AI models and large IC clusters."

It all sounds somewhat nationalistic which might mean it will stand a chance of surviving into the Trump presidency.

The full notice, in the Federal Register, is here: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2025-00636/framework-…