The Department of Commerce’s artificial intelligence (AI) exports program has advanced to the next phase: The agency announced Monday it is now accepting industry proposals.
The export program falls under President Donald Trump’s AI Action Plan, which called on the departments of Commerce and State to partner with industry to provide “secure, full-stack AI export packages” to American allies. The packages will bundle hardware, models, software, applications, and standards, according to the White House.
Commerce officially launched the program in October and said its International Trade Administration (ITA) would select industry-led export packages for promotion worldwide.
Beginning April 1, industry groups can submit proposals during a 90-day window, ITA said on Monday.
“America’s continued global leadership in AI depends on our ability to export our AI to allies around the world,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade William Kimmitt. “We will continue to focus our resources to most effectively implement the President’s export directives and position America’s AI innovators and workers to win globally.”
Industry can submit two types of proposals: Those that “demonstrate capability across all layers of the AI technology stack and maintain global offerings ready for deployment on an ongoing basis,” or “on-demand” packages created in response to specific government opportunities. On-demand proposals “need only cover the stack layers required for the specific deal,” and are considered “custom-made,” ITA explained.
The federal government will use a single approval process to select which industry groups can participate in the program. Commerce will make the call with input from senior foreign policy, defense, energy, and science officials, ITA said.
Once approved, those groups could sell complete U.S. AI systems to trusted buyers overseas. In return, they could receive added support from the federal government, including faster export reviews, easier access to federal financing, direct diplomatic backing, and coordinated help across agencies.
Alongside the Commerce-led exports program, the Trump administration has begun rolling out initiatives to partner with leading firms in allied countries, deploy American technical experts abroad, set international standards for emerging AI systems, and expand funding for the AI stacks through U.S. agencies and a new World Bank-backed fund.
Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios has said these efforts are critical to promoting U.S. technology and preventing China-made chips and AI from gaining global influence.