Submission of Comments on the Department of Commerce's 'AI Export Program'
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Samsung Electronics and SK Group have expressed their intention to participate in the "U.S.-Made AI Export Program," an initiative aimed at strengthening the country's artificial intelligence (AI) competitiveness.
According to the U.S. Federal Register on December 21 (local time), Samsung Electronics and SK recently submitted official comments to the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the "U.S.-Made AI Export Program."
In its statement submitted on December 12, Samsung Electronics said, "While U.S. companies will lead these consortia, the participation of long-standing allies like Korea and trusted companies like Samsung will be essential for a successful program, especially at the hardware layer of the stack." The company added, "Samsung is uniquely positioned to make a significant contribution to the program's success, given its full-stack expertise, including edge devices," and explained, "This allied production model offers a stable path for a U.S.-led technology stack to meet global demand, particularly in the short and medium term."
Samsung Electronics also expressed its support for the "trusted partner" program, which the Department of Commerce is considering to allow the participation of foreign companies and other countries. The company suggested that, in selecting foreign companies, priority should be given to those with a long history of investment, production, and job creation in the United States.
In its statement submitted on December 13, SK Group stated, "Including foreign companies headquartered in allied countries that share our values in the U.S.-Made AI Export Program will best support the administration's policy, technology, and export growth objectives." The company also noted, "Many companies from U.S. allied countries possess world-class expertise in semiconductors, advanced packaging, materials, software, and other products and services essential to the U.S.-made AI stack. The participation of allied companies is vital to ensuring best-in-class technological competitiveness across the entire AI stack."
SK Group further pointed out that, in the field of AI technology stacks, multiple companies are already operating as a "de facto consortium" based on market principles. The company recommended that the Department of Commerce avoid forming exclusive and formalized consortia that could prevent allied countries from participating.
In July, President Trump issued an executive order directing the U.S. to maintain and expand its dominance in AI and to reduce reliance on AI technologies developed by adversarial nations by promoting the export of "full-stack" U.S.-made AI technology packages. He also instructed the Department of Commerce to establish the "U.S.-Made AI Export Program" and to solicit participation proposals from industry-led consortia.
The Trump administration is encouraging the export of U.S. companies' AI technologies as part of its efforts to secure AI leadership, with the "U.S.-Made AI Export Program" being one such measure. The rationale is that broader global dissemination of U.S.-made AI technologies will increase global dependence on the United States and reduce the likelihood of countries turning to Chinese technologies.
The Department of Commerce plans to accept proposals from consortia wishing to participate in the AI export program in the future. After selecting participating consortia in consultation with relevant agencies, the Trump administration intends to provide priority access to federal funding and policy support.
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