Key points
- The Commerce Department is preparing restrictions that would bar Chinese AI companies from accessing U.S. chips remotely through data centers outside the United States, according to The Information.
- Data center operators could face know-your-customer checks as a condition of receiving advanced chips.
- The draft could go to AI companies and other stakeholders in September.
The Commerce Department is working on a rule that would stop Chinese AI companies from remotely using advanced American chips housed in data centers overseas, including in Thailand and Singapore, The Information reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The rule could require data center operators to run know-your-customer checks on their clients and to restrict Chinese access as a condition of receiving advanced chips, according to the report. The department's Bureau of Industry and Security is preparing the draft, which could be sent to AI companies and other stakeholders in September.
Today's export controls govern where physical chips can be shipped, not who can log into them. A Chinese firm that cannot import Nvidia (NVDA) processors can still rent time on them through a cloud provider in a third country. Cassia King, a senior researcher at the Institute for AI Policy and Strategy, told CNBC this month that the current rules do not cover remote access to the chips.
CNBC reported on August 19 that ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent have used Nvidia computing power through data centers in Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan. In July, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios accused Moonshot AI of using Nvidia's GB300 chips through a facility in Thailand to train Kimi K3, the model Moonshot is now pitching to Western cloud platforms.
The House passed the Remote Access Security Act, a bill that would put cloud-based access to restricted chips under U.S. export control authority, in January by a 369-22 vote. The Senate has not taken it up.
Nvidia shares were down about 1% Friday morning, trading near $225.50 at 10 a.m. Eastern against Thursday's close of $227.98, two days after the company reported earnings.
The new rule would replace the AI Diffusion Rule, a Biden-era regulation that limited sales of advanced chips country by country. The Bureau of Industry and Security rescinded that rule in 2025, saying it would have "stifled American innovation and saddled companies with burdensome new regulatory requirements."
Sources
- The Information, "Trump Administration Working on AI Rule to Curb China's Remote Access to Chips," August 28, 2026
- CNBC, "The U.S. banned Nvidia's best chips from going to China. Now it's trying to close a crucial loophole," August 19, 2026
- U.S. House of Representatives passage of the Remote Access Security Act, January 2026
- Nvidia (NVDA) price data, August 28, 2026
