A Biden-era AI rule written in the last days of his administration should be on the chopping block. Senate Republicans said in a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday.

Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Ted Budd (R-NC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) signed the letter to Lutnick, which referenced the Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Rule (AIDR).

AIDR purported to safeguard American leadership in AI but actually undermines it, the senators argued.

Trump has repeatedly touted U.S. AI development and the importance of American leadership, but AIDR "threatens to undermine this leadership and advancement."

The rule

Conservative Senators write to @howardlutnick on Biden's AI Diffusion Rule: "we urge you to withdraw this rule and propose an alternative that is effective in preventing Communist China from capturing the world market in a leading technology without compromising American… pic.twitter.com/b6MoVlmN8S

— sparks (@_MattSparks) April 15, 2025

The rule complicates who can purchase AI technologies from the U.S., separating countries into three tiers.

Tier 1, with 18 countries, can purchase AI resources from the U.S., but the others cannot.

This could lead other nations to buy cheap substitutes from China instead, the senators caution.

"Immediate action" necessary

Important U.S. allies like Israel are relegated to the second tier in this rule, and all nations need to meet burdensome regulations before purchasing U.S. technologies.

Senate Republicans urged Lutnick to end this rule and prevent these unfavorable consequences from taking place.

"With the compliance deadline of May 15th rapidly approaching, immediate action is necessary to prevent irreversible damage to American Innovation and competitiveness," they wrote. 

"We urge you to withdraw this rule and propose an alternative that is effective in preventing Communist China from capturing the world market in a leading technology without compromising American advantages," they added.

It's not surprising that the Biden administration got this all wrong when they made up the AIDR rule.

With Biden's ties to China through alleged payoffs, one wonders whether they did it on purpose or were just that inept.