Trump administration officials are examining whether US export control policies may have inadvertently allowed Chinese companies, including Alibaba (BABA), to legally access advanced artificial intelligence chips outside China, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The debate centers on policy changes made in May 2025 that some officials and export-control experts believe may have created loopholes allowing Chinese firms to buy servers powered by cutting-edge chips from Nvidia (NVDA) in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, the report said.
Officials are also reviewing whether the same policies could have enabled advanced chip manufacturing for certain Chinese customers through overseas foundries, the report added.
The issue burst into public view after the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a rare advisory stating that restrictions on AI chip sales to Chinese companies remain in effect globally, Bloomberg reported.
The agency maintains no loophole ever existed and said shipments of advanced AI chips to Chinese firms without a US license would violate export-control rules, according to the report, citing an unnamed BIS official.
The White House and the Commerce Department did not immediately respond to MT Newswires' request for comment.
(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)
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