The Trump administration plans to rescind the much-criticized Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion rule enacted by former President Joe Biden at the end of his term.

The regulation was set to go into force on May 15 but a spokesperson for the US Department of Commerce this week labeled it “overly complex, overly bureaucratic” and said it would “stymie American innovation.”

Instead, the spokesperson said, the Trump administration would replace it with “a much simpler rule that unleashes American innovation and ensures American AI dominance.”

Finalized in January 2025, the AI Diffusion Rule restricts the access of AI chips and AI model weights by countries, determined by a tiered system decided by the US government. However, the regulation attracted widespread criticism from companies when it was first introduced, with Nvidia publicly calling the rule “misguided” and saying it threatened to “derail innovation and economic growth worldwide.”

According to Reuters, expected changes to the rule include removing the tiers that determine how many semiconductors countries can purchase, replacing it with individual country agreements.

Responding to the news that the government is planning to change the rule, Nvidia said it welcomed the new direction on AI policy, adding: “With the AI Diffusion Rule revoked, America will have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead the next industrial revolution and create high-paying US jobs, build new US-supplied infrastructure, and alleviate the trade deficit.”