Biden Goes “Full Buzzkill” With Final Round of Chip Curbs Before Trump's Grand Entrance—Chaos

In what only seems as a “final hurrah” moment for his administration, President Joe Biden is reportedly gearing up to hit Nvidia, AMD, and the rest of the semiconductor crew with a final round of AI chip export curbs before handing over the keys to President-elect Donald Trump on January 20. Think of it as Biden’s last-minute attempt to be an absolute “Get off my lawn” buzzkill on tech before the clock runs out.

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In short, the new restrictions, which Bloomberg says could go live as soon as next week, aim to tighten the screws on who gets access to advanced U.S. semiconductor tech. If you're from China or Russia, congratulations, you’re getting ghosted. If you’re a U.S. ally like Japan, Australia, or Europe, you can still come to the party—but don’t expect an all-access pass. For everyone else, it’s a mixed bag of “We’ll see” and “Not so fast.”

(Source: IBD) 

Naturally the market didn’t take this news with a grain of salt—it dumped the whole friggin’ shaker. Nvidia saw most of the heartache this week as discussions brewed, falling a brutal 6.2% drop on Tuesday, -1% on Wednesday, and another -3% to end the week. AMD, meanwhile, is already limping near a 52-week low, and yesterday's -4.76% slide didn’t exactly help morale. 

What’s more is that even Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor, which usually play the role of “innocent bystanders” in this geopolitical drama, weren’t spared. Broadcom slipped 3%, while Taiwan Semiconductors lost a fraction ahead of its December sales report. 

(Source: StockTwits) 

But, but, but… it's not just chips on the chopping block with Biden's final mic drop moment. He proposed rules to also take aim at AI software exports, specifically targeting “model weights”—the numerical parameters that make machine learning algorithms tick. In other words, Uncle Sam wants to make sure advanced AI doesn’t fall into the wrong hands (or any hands that aren’t shaking his).

Predictably, Nvidia, AMD, and the Semiconductor Industry Association are not loving this move. Nvidia warned that these restrictions could hurt U.S. economic growth and chipmaker dominance on the global stage. “A last-minute rule restricting exports to most of the world would not reduce the risk of misuse but would threaten economic growth and U.S. leadership,” the company said in a statement that mimics “You’re killing us, Smalls”. 

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The Semiconductor Industry Association chimed in too, pointing out the obvious: rushing out a major policy change in the middle of a presidential transition is basically begging for chaos. “Our country needs to get this right so we can compete and win globally,”--- to which I say, they aren’t wrong. 

At the end of the day, this isn’t just about one last policy move or a few red candlesticks on a stock chart. It’s about the U.S. trying to maintain its chokehold on the global semiconductor supply chain while simultaneously sending a message to China: “Don’t even think about it.”

(Source: Giphy) 

However, in trying to assert dominance, the Biden administration is also revealing just how fragile this whole setup really is. The semiconductor industry thrives on global demand, and cutting off major markets—even for national security reasons—risks alienating key players and stalling growth. It’s a classic case of trying to have your cake and eat it too, except the cake is made of impossibly tiny transistors, and eating it could tank your stock price.

For now, everyone is bracing for impact with this. And in a 2025 market where the only direction seems to be South… Well, expect more turbulence next week. Maybe Trump will change direction on January 20th, maybe he won’t. Regardless though, place your bets accordingly friends. As always stay safe and stay frosty! Until next time…

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