The U.S. government could face a host of challenges if it tries to place export controls on AI models to protect national security, the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) said in an article last week.
A State Department proposal to revise the definition of defense services could cover an overly broad set of activities and likely exacerbate the already lengthy processing times for commodity jurisdiction requests and export license applications, defense industry groups and firms said in public comments to the agency released last week.
The EU General Court on Oct. 23 annuled the sanctions listing of Vladimir Gheorghe Plahotniuc a former member of Moldova's Parliament, who was listed for allegedly committing bank fraud and bribing the former president of Moldova in exchange for political favors.
The White House this week issued a memorandum on advancing U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence, directing federal agencies to take “concrete and impactful steps” to make sure the U.S. remains at the forefront of AI development and that the technology helps instead of harms national security. The memo calls on the Commerce Department, the State Department, the Office of Science and Technology Policy and other agencies to “improve the security and diversity of chip supply chains,” according to a fact sheet, and to protect advanced AI technologies from foreign theft.
Turkish state-owned bank Halkbank is not shielded from "common-law foreign sovereign immunity" in the U.S. government's suit against the bank for sanctions evasion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit said earlier this week, ruling that the U.S. may prosecute it on charges that it helped Iran evade U.S. sanctions (United States v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi, 2nd Cir. # 20-3499).
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated guidance this week to clarify how it will implement a new regulation, which took effect in June, that makes it illegal for a sanctioned person to own a U.K. company, act as a director for that company or otherwise be “involved in a company’s promotion, formation or management.” The guidance covers these new “director disqualification” sanctions (see 2407090027), including the possible penalties for violators and how the U.K. may issue licenses to grant certain exceptions under the measure.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Mirghani Idris Suleiman for helping to procure weapons for the Sudanese Armed Forces, which is warring with the Rapid Support Forces and causing violence that has led to a humanitarian and human rights crisis in the country. OFAC said Suleiman serves as the director general of Defense Industries System, the SAF’s primary weapons production and procurement arm. OFAC sanctioned the procurement director for the Rapid Support Forces earlier this month (see 2410080018).
While the Biden and Trump administrations both frequently imposed financial sanctions and export controls on China, the Biden administration has made greater use of two key tools: the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List and the Commerce Department’s Entity List. That's according to a new report by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).
The U.K.’s Export Control Joint Unit this week updated two open general export licenses related to the multi-country F-35 joint strike fighter program -- a defense acquisition effort by the U.K., the U.S. and others to replace fighter jets among allied countries.
The Commerce Department declined to say whether it’s investigating Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company for a possible breach of export controls against Huawei but is aware of public reporting about the issue, an agency spokesperson said Oct. 24.