Donald Trump is right to ditch Joe Biden’s chip-export rules
Time to get realistic
For years now America has grappled with how best to protect its lead in the artificial-intelligence race. Its weapon of choice has been export controls on the sale of ai chips to China. But, as we report this week, controls so far have been leaky. A burgeoning grey market exists for the wares of Nvidia, America’s chip champion. Chinese firms lease access to offshore data centres or buy chips through intermediaries. Export controls have conspicuously failed to stop Chinese tech from surprising the world.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Illusion of control ”
From the May 10th 2025 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
Scrap the asylum system—and build something better
Rich countries need to separate asylum from labour migration
Britain is cheap, and should learn to love it
Workers and assets are on sale to the rest of the world for bargain-basement prices
America cannot dodge the consequences of rising tariffs for ever
Their economic impact has been delayed but not averted
How A-listers are shaking up the consumer-goods business
Hailey Bieber, Rihanna and Ryan Reynolds are among a new cohort of celebrity entrepreneurs
William Ruto is taking Kenya to a dangerous place
The president’s authoritarian instincts are propelling a spiral of violence
China is building an entire empire on data
It will change the online economy and the evolution of artificial intelligence