BIS Again Renews Temporary Export Control Classification on AI Software
The Bureau of Industry and Security again renewed its temporary export control on certain artificial intelligence software as it prepares to make the classification permanent, BIS said in a notice. The temporary control -- first issued in January 2020 (see 2001030024), extended last year (see 2101050018) and renewed for a second time this week -- placed unilateral restrictions on geospatial imagery software by adding it to the 0Y521 Temporary Export Control Classification Numbers Series. The latest one-year renewal is effective Jan. 6.
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BIS originally added the software to the temporary control classification because the technology wasn’t yet identified in an existing ECCN, and because the agency intended to propose it for multilateral control at the 2020 Wassenaar Arrangement. But Wassenaar’s annual plenary was not held that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing BIS to delay some of its emerging technology proposals to 2021 (see 2011250054).
Although the multilateral regime met during 2021, it held only “limited deliberations” because of the continuing pandemic, BIS said, which “did not allow for sufficient discussion of this proposal.” BIS said this week it will instead look to control the software at Wassenaar’s 2022 plenary.
Under the Export Administration Regulations, BIS can extend an item’s temporary classification under ECCN 0Y521 for two one-year periods, which the agency has now done. The agency may extend the temporary control beyond the three-year limit only if it secures approval from the BIS undersecretary, who must determine that another extension is in the “national security or foreign policy interest” of the U.S.
In its initial 2020 rule, BIS said the software may provide the U.S. or foreign governments with an important military or intelligence advantage and should be controlled for foreign policy reasons. Included in the scope of the control is certain geospatial imagery software designed for “training a Deep Convolutional Neural Network to automate the analysis of geospatial imagery and point clouds,” according to BIS. Exports of the software require licenses for all countries except Canada.
The control was initially met with backlash and confusion from industry, which feared broad, unintended impacts on exports of certain AI products (see 2004230034).