Revision to License Review Policy for Advanced Computing Commodities (H200-class chips to China)

In forceRegulationBinding

Changes BIS licence review for exports to China and Macau of Nvidia H200-class and less advanced AI chips from a presumption of denial to case-by-case review, if the exporter certifies sufficient US supply, no diversion of foundry capacity, adequate recipient security, and independent US third-party performance testing. More advanced chips remain under the existing controls.

Why it matters

Chip exporters can now seek licences for H200-class sales to China, but only with detailed certifications; export of frontier-class compute to China remains restricted.

What it requires

Registration or filingSecurity testing

Penalties

Export Administration Regulations penalties (civil and criminal)

SourceFederal Register: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/15/2026-00789/revision-to-license-review-policy-for-advanced-computing-commodities Secondary: https://www.bis.gov/press-release/department-commerce-rescinds-biden-era-artificial-intelligence-diffusion-rule-strengthens-chip-related Checked against the source on 4 Oct 2026. Wider context: on 13 May 2025 BIS announced rescission and non-enforcement of the January 2025 AI Diffusion Rule (including its global compute tiers and controls on closed model weights) and promised a replacement rule; no replacement rule had been published in the Federal Register as of 2026-10-04. A 14 Jul 2026 rule (effective 10 Jul 2026) moved the UAE to Country Group A:5, giving the UAE government and approved entities licence-free access to advanced computing items.

Cite this record

Revision to License Review Policy for Advanced Computing Commodities (H200-class chips to China). Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Department of Commerce. Status: In force. wheresthe.ai, https://wheresthe.ai/rule/us-bis-advanced-computing-license-policy-2026/ (verified 4 Oct 2026).

Line of Thought

Developments connected to this rule

What has happened that this rule shapes, or that shapes it. Pick one to keep following the thread.

DevelopmentUS moves UAE into top export tier, opening licence-free AI chips to approved users10 Jul 2026 · Rule change · US, AE
DevelopmentUS opens case-by-case H200 licences for China and adds 25% tariff on such chips15 Jan 2026 · Rule change · US, CN
DevelopmentUS scraps AI Diffusion Rule and warns against using Huawei Ascend chips13 May 2025 · Rule change · US, CN
DevelopmentChina's internet regulator summons NVIDIA over alleged security risks in H20 chips31 Jul 2025 · Enforcement or ruling · CN, US
DevelopmentUS charges Supermicro co-founder over alleged $2.5bn Nvidia-server diversion to China19 Mar 2026 · Enforcement or ruling · US, CN
DevelopmentChina adds extraterritorial rare-earth export controls, then pauses them to Nov 20269 Oct 2025 · Rule change · CN, US

Revision to License Review Policy for Advanced Computing Commodities (H200-class chips to China)

Why it matters

What it requires

Penalties

Cite this record

Developments connected to this rule

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