The US agency responsible for approving exports of Nvidia and AMD artificial intelligence chips to China is losing staff and slowing approvals, as a growing workload and senior-level bottlenecks combine to create a deepening backlog, Bloomberg has reported.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), a division of the Commerce Department that oversees export licences for sensitive technology, has shed 101 employees since 2024, a 19% reduction in headcount, according to Bloomberg's analysis of Office of Personnel Management figures, LinkedIn updates and agency records.
Turnover among rulemaking and licensing staff has approached 20%.
Licence turnaround times rose to an average of 76 days in the first half of 2025, compared with 38 days in 2023, Bloomberg said.
The most recent published BIS annual report, covering fiscal 2023, showed the agency processed nearly 38,000 applications that year with an approval rate of 85%; reports for 2024 and 2025 remain unpublished.
The workload has expanded following the Trump administration's tariff probes and broadened AI export reviews, while Under Secretary of Commerce Jeffrey Kessler is personally reviewing nearly every licence application, according to Bloomberg's sources.
The outlet said Kessler has told companies to "simply call him to have a licence approved," a hands-on approach that, combined with complex approval conditions, is magnifying the queue.
Nvidia's H200 chip shipments to China and AMD's MI308 approvals both route through BIS, and some licences covering Middle East markets for companies including Cerebras and Nvidia require dollar-for-dollar matching of US investment commitments, forcing individual negotiations rather than allowing standard processing templates to be applied.
Bloomberg also reported that senior BIS officials have had their attention diverted to the conflict with Iran since late February, adding further pressure to a unit already operating below previous staffing levels.
The delays carry commercial and diplomatic consequences: chip export approvals are a live issue in US-China trade relations, and the bottlenecks are expected to feature in an upcoming diplomatic meeting between the two countries, Bloomberg said.
Nvidia is the dominant supplier of high-performance AI accelerators and has been subject to a series of progressively tightened US export restrictions targeting China since 2022, with each successive rule prompting the company to develop modified chip variants aimed at compliance.
AMD occupies a smaller share of the AI accelerator market but faces the same licensing requirements for its China-destined products.
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The BIS staffing cuts reflect a wider pattern of reductions across US federal agencies under the current administration, with the export control bureau among those affected by broader workforce contraction.
Bloomberg said it spoke with more than 20 people familiar with the matter in compiling its findings, and framed the staffing losses and procedural bottlenecks as the primary cause of the extended timelines facing chipmakers seeking export approvals.
The recap
- BIS staffing losses are slowing AI chip export approvals.
- The agency shed 101 employees, a 19% reduction.
- Reports for 2024 and 2025 remain unpublished, Bloomberg said.
