Commerce readies AI chip curbs on seven more nations

Washington is moving to close routes that advanced AI chips use to reach China, after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admitted to an affair with a suspected Chinese intelligence asset. The Commerce Department is finalizing a rule that would bring seven more countries under its AI chip export controls. Lawmakers from both parties are also pushing to add three chip bills to the annual defense bill. Neither effort is certain to succeed.

Seven new countries targeted

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security wants to add Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Norway and South Africa to its existing chip control list, The Information reported, according to SBS. The rule could be announced as early as this month. Importers in those countries would then need licenses for Nvidia Blackwell-class chips or better, would have to report who uses the chips and for what, and would face ongoing monitoring. US-run data centers could be exempt if they block remote access from China and Russia.news.sbs.co.kr+1

Much of the attention is on Singapore. Alice Huang was an executive at Megaspeed, a data center company based there, and is suspected of using it and its Malaysian unit, Speedmatrix, to move at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chips, according to The Information as cited by Fortune. Megaspeed says it takes US export law "extremely seriously" and has cooperated with inspections. Nvidia says it stopped shipments to the company in June 2025.centredaily.com+2

Defense bill stalled

Leading lawmakers are trying to add the AI Overwatch Act, the Chip Security Act and the MATCH Act to the National Defense Authorization Act, The Wall Street Journal News Corp ↗ 2.45% reported. The first would let Congress block AI chip exports to adversaries. The second would require chips to have location verification. The third would push allies to match US limits on chipmaking tools. "Congress must now act," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. However, talks on the defense bill remain deadlocked, and the provisions could still be changed or dropped. The scandal has made it "politically harder for negotiators to strip chip provisions," analyst David Meale told CNBC Comcast Corporation ↗ 1.45%.koreatimes.co.kr+3

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix ↘ 4.30% could be affected by the MATCH Act because of their factories in China.koreatimes.co.kr

Senators demand records

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to keep all records tied to Nvidia's chip exports to China. They want written confirmation by November 17. Their letter says Megaspeed bought more than $4.8 billion of Nvidia's advanced chips since June 2024. It also says officials knew about the concerns but "did not move to block the continued flow" of chips.politico.com+1

China rejected the spying claims. The United States "should stop fabricating the so-called spy narrative," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. President Trump is set to meet Xi Jinping on November 18–19.en.sedaily.com+1