House and Senate negotiators unveiled a compromise FY 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill Jan. 5 that would provide $235 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, up $44 million, or 23%, from the FY 2025 enacted level.
John Austerman has left his role as a division chief with the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs to join defense technology company Shield AI as its director of global export strategy, he announced on LinkedIn. Austerman worked as a division chief since October 2024 and previously worked at the Pentagon (see 2410040046).
The Trump administration plans to convene early next year to try to better organize its approach to AI diffusion and export controls over AI semiconductors, said Paul Triolo, the technology policy lead at advisory firm Albright Stonebridge Group.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has withdrawn a final rule from interagency review that was set to make "revisions" to the Export Administration Regulations for "certain rare earth minerals and strategic metals." The agency sent the rule for interagency review July 10 and it was withdrawn Dec. 22.
South Korean prosecutors have charged multiple former Samsung employees with leaking sensitive advanced computing technology to Chinese semiconductor company ChangXin Memory Technologies, an alleged violation of the country’s Industrial Technology Protection Act, Korean newspaper The Chosun reported Dec. 24.
Sens. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced Dec. 21 that they have introduced a bill to close a “loophole” that has allowed China to use cloud service providers to access advanced U.S. chips remotely.
The Bureau of Industry and Security needs to be brought into the U.S. intelligence community and receive a boost in staff and resources to better manage its expanding workload, two commissioners with the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said.
Caleb Orr has been sworn in as the State Department's new assistant secretary for the Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs, the agency announced this week on LinkedIn. Orr will lead the agency's efforts to "promote opportunities for American companies, ensure secure supply chains, and leverage economic tools to advance U.S. interests." He previously served as senior adviser to Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and as an aide to then-Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has completed a round of interagency review for an interim final rule that it said would streamline its export restrictions for drone exports. The agency sent the rule for interagency review on Aug. 21 (see 2509020010) and completed the review Dec. 22.
The top Democrats on the oversight committees for the Bureau of Industry and Security are asking the agency for information about the Trump administration's plan to approve Nvidia H200 chip exports to China, including license applications, supporting documents and more.