Digital Future Daily

In Trump’s Washington, Europe’s tech regulation is a regular object of scorn. But there is one piece of American tech policy that’s united European diplomats and U.S. industry: A rule issued in President Joe Biden’s final days in office that sorted the world into three tiers for AI chip export, with more than half of Europe left off the top rung.

Under the Framework for AI Diffusion, 17 EU countries were designated Tier 2, setting caps on their access to chips needed to train AI, while the rest of Europe was set for Tier 1, with no import restrictions. Countries listed in the second tier are treating it as a scarlet letter.

“We’re going around town trying to explain that we have no idea why we ended up in Tier 2,” said one European diplomat, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive talks. “If this has to do with cooperation with the U.S. on security, we are NATO allies, we are more than willing.”