Overview

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in the US Department of Commerce is the lead agency tasked with administering and enforcing export controls on dual-use items and technology, conducting assessments of the US industrial base, and controlling the role of foreign technology services in the United States. Under its export control mission, BIS takes the lead in writing and revising the regulations as well as investigating and litigating violations.

BIS has become increasingly central to the US government’s AI policy efforts. BIS controls the export of and access to high-performance semiconductors, a critical input to the development and deployment of large AI models. Over the past few years, BIS has progressively tightened controls on the export of AI chips and the tools needed to make them—attempting to limit China’s ability to modernize its military. BIS is also assuming a critical set of responsibilities from President Biden’s October 2023 AI Executive Order.

BIS has been involved in managing exports of biological equipment, materials, and technology for decades, aiming to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Much of BIS’ biosecurity work is conducted through the Chemical and Biological Controls Division (CBC) in the Office of Nonproliferation and Foreign Policy Controls (NFPC). BIS is also the US regulatory representative in collaborations with multilateral export control regimes, such as the Australia Group.

Background on BIS

• Government context: BIS is one of six bureaus led by an Under Secretary within the US Department of Commerce, one of 15 executive departments in the US government.
• Mission: to advance US national security and foreign policy by ensuring effective export control and treaty compliance systems and promoting US strategic technology leadership.
• Main activities: developing and enforcing export controls on dual-use items, coordinating export control policies with international partners; managing lists of entities of concern; compliance monitoring for export controls; assessing US industrial base capabilities and supply chain risks; partnering with other agencies to prevent illegal exports; assessing national security risks related to foreign investment in the US.
• Budget: ~$191 million appropriated for FY23
• Staff: 585 employees (as of FY23)
• Brief history: established in 1987 as the Bureau of Export Administration to formalize and administer Cold War export controls; renamed to the Bureau of Industry and Security in 2002 and empowered by the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) in 2018, which codified its authorities during national emergencies and strengthened its role in addressing national security threats.

History and activities

The US government has controlled exports practically since the country’s formation. During the Cold War, the US used export controls to hinder the Soviet military, and the ultimate collapse of the USSR is partially attributed to the success of those controls. Beginning in the 1970s, the US government liberalized its export controls regime—loosening restrictions and refocusing on items used to develop weapons of mass destruction. In recent years, however, policymakers have once again expanded the export control toolkit, this time to address geopolitical competition with China and human right violations. In 2018, Congress passed the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), which codified BIS’s preexisting IEEPA-based remit and created powerful new authorities.

Today, BIS’s main activities include:

1. Administering export controls on dual-use items (commodities, software, or technology)
   • Writing and revising the rules that govern exports via (1) list-based controls to certain destinations and (2) controls for certain end-uses and end-users. BIS also has extraterritorial authority to control direct products of certain US items even if the product originates outside the US. 
   • Coordinating export control rules (particularly item lists) with multilateral bodies and international partners.
   • Chairing the interagency committee that adds, revises, and removes entities from four lists of parties of concern: the Entity List (EL), the Unverified List (UVL), the Military End-user List (MEU), and the Denied Persons List (DL).
   • Reviewing and adjudicating license applications.
2. Enforcing export controls on dual-use items
   • Investigating export control violations. This includes conducting end-use checks to confirm that exported items are being used for their intended purposes.
   • Proactively stopping illegal exports through interdiction efforts (in partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection).
   • Bringing legal cases against parties that violate the export control rules.
   • Preparing nominations to add entities to the Entity List. This involves gathering intelligence and carefully documenting and justifying each entity’s national security risk.
   • Coordinating enforcement activities and sharing best practices with international partners.
3. Assessing the capabilities of the US industrial base. This primarily involves surveying US firms about their capabilities and supply chain risks.
4. Securing US Information Communications Technology and Services (ICTS) supply chains by
   • Investigating the risks posed by foreign ICTS in US supply chains and the US market. The first formal such investigation is into the risks of foreign-made internet-connected cars.
   • When deemed necessary, restricting the role of foreign ICTS in the US supply chains and the US market.
5. Participating in interagency processes on other economic security measures, such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

Organizational structure

BIS is organized into three top-level offices: the Office of the Under Secretary at the top, with the two halves of the organization underneath it: Export Administration (EA) and Export Enforcement (EE).

• Office of the Under Secretary: oversees the Administration and Enforcement halves of BIS, conducts ICTS investigations, and handles public and congressional affairs.
• Export Administration: writes export control rules, makes licensing determinations, and assesses the capabilities of the US industrial base.
• Export Enforcement: investigates export and antiboycott violations, interdicts illegal exports, conducts end-use checks, and helps companies to improve export compliance practices.

BIS and AI policy

BIS is particularly relevant to AI policy because of its key role in controlling the export of AI chips—a critical input to the development of AI systems. BIS has imposed licensing requirements on the export of the highest-performing AI chips (manufactured using US tools) to 44 countries, including China, and to some firms located in other countries. Due to BIS’s extraterritorial Foreign Direct Product Rules (FDPRs), this includes restrictions on transactions between certain foreign entities in foreign countries involving foreign-made chips. BIS has also imposed licensing requirements on the export of advanced semiconductor manufacturing tools, which are needed to fabricate most AI chips. To increase the effectiveness of these controls, BIS coordinated with the governments of Japan and the Netherlands—encouraging each country to adopt complementary controls on semiconductor manufacturing tools.

BIS has also been assigned key mandates from the Biden Administration’s 2023 Executive Order on AI. BIS is considering requiring that cloud service providers report to BIS when a foreign national uses their platform to train a large AI model (EO 14110, Sec. 4.2.c). The BIS has used its Defense Production Act (DPA) authorities to survey AI developers that are creating dual-use foundation AI models as required by EO 14110, Sec. 4.2.a, and the BIS has a proposed rule to continue this survey quarterly.

In general, BIS’s mission and legislative authorities make it a critical agency when considering whether or how to control another country’s access to emerging technologies like AI.

Major AI-related developments at BIS

In Commerce, BIS has been a focal point for AI-related policymaking. Relevant developments include:

Major recent AI-related developments at BIS

• August 2025: BIS eliminates special exemptions that allowed some foreign-owned semiconductor manufacturing facilities in China to receive US technology without export licenses. 
• January 2025: BIS releases two rules—one updating export controls on advanced computing semiconductors, and another placing additional entities in China and Singapore on the Entity List.
• September 2024: BIS announces a Final Rule expanding the “Validated End User” authorization to relax export control requirements on AI data centers that pass rigorous background checks and follow stringent security guidelines.
• September 2024: BIS announces a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking outlining a new mandatory reporting requirement for the world’s leading AI developers and cloud providers.
• January 2024: BIS issues a draft rule that would require US infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) providers to report to Commerce when a foreign person attempts to train a large AI model on their platform. Comments on this draft rule closed on April 29, 2024, and Commerce is expected to issue an Interim Final Rule later in 2024.
• December 2023: BIS publishes an assessment of the US microelectronics industrial base, relying on a DPA survey of firms operating in the United States. The conclusions of the report sparked a subsequent investigation into the use of Chinese-manufactured mature-node chips in critical U.S. supply chains.
• October 2023: BIS updates its export controls on AI semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The update broadened the geographic scope of the controls, expanded the set of controlled AI chips, and created a new red flag to help catch evasion (among other changes).
• October 2022: BIS issues country-wide export controls on AI semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment destined for China.

BIS offices working on AI policy

Several BIS offices contribute to AI-related efforts, including (not comprehensive):

AI-related offices at BIS

1. Office of the Under Secretary: oversees all of BIS, reports to the Secretary of Commerce. Houses a small team considering how BIS should control emerging technologies such as AI.
2. Export Administration: designs export control policy, including drafting and publishing changes to the Export Administration Regulations, administering post license processes, and providing compliance and management guidance to exporters.
   1. Office of National Security Controls (ONSC): writes export control rules and adjudicates licenses for national security items, including the recently controlled semiconductor items. ONSC is the Export Administration office working most directly on AI.
   2. Office of Technology Evaluation (OTE): evaluates the effectiveness of export controls, conducts detailed technical analyses of controlled items, analyzes trade and export licensing data, and assesses the capabilities of the US defense industrial base, among other roles.
   3. International Policy Office (IPO): educates international partners on US export controls, collaborates with nations to implement similar measures, and includes the China Team, which focuses on China-specific export control policy.
   4. Office of Exporter Services (OExS): helps organizations understand export control regulations and develop effective compliance programs, which is critical since private sector organizations (companies, universities, etc.) are on the front lines of export control implementation. This is especially important for the latest semiconductor controls given their complexity and will likely be similarly essential for controls on AI and other emerging technologies.
   5. “EA Front Office”: analogous to the Office of the Under Secretary for the BIS as a whole, Export Administration has a small collection of advisors that play a pivotal role in writing regulation related to AI.
   6. End User Review Committee (ERC): manages an interagency body composed of representatives from Commerce, Defense, Energy, State, and sometimes Treasury. Makes decisions to add/remove/modify parties on the Entity List and Military End User List. ERC is chaired by Commerce.
3. Office of Export Enforcement: investigates export and antiboycott violations; interdicts illegal exports; conducts end-use checks; helps companies to improve export compliance practices.
   1. Office of Enforcement Analysis (OEA): uses all-source intelligence (both classified and unclassified) to conduct research that supports BIS’s various missions. These analyses are critical for “adjudicating export control licenses, preventing the diversion of export-controlled items, identifying potential violators, and facilitating law enforcement actions.”
      • Strategic Intelligence Division (SID): serves as the executive agent for the interagency Information Triage Unit, which collects and analyzes all-source information about foreign end-users of US-controlled items. This information helps BIS and interagency partners assess potential risks when making licensing decisions. The division includes detailees from other parts of the Intelligence Community. 
      • International Operations Division (IOD): evaluates end-users of controlled transactions, including exports and license applications, to identify entities for pre-license checks and post-shipment verifications. This office will likely manage any post-shipment location verification for AI chips.
4. Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services (OICTS): works on issues like “infrastructure as a service” (IaaS) for AI, critical information technology supply chains, cybersecurity, and data protection.

BIS and biosecurity policy

BIS has been involved in biosecurity-related export controls and multilateral collaboration since the creation of its predecessor (the Bureau of Export Administration) in 1981. BIS plays an important role in setting and enforcing export policy, and ensuring compliance under multilateral agreements.

The US participates in four multilateral export control regimes and also collaborates with some countries to augment or overcome shortcomings in the multilateral agreements. The two most biosecurity-relevant multilateral export agreements are: 

• Australia Group (AG): an informal coalition of countries working together to prevent the export of materials that could support the creation of biological or chemical weapons. By aligning their export controls, members help each other meet their obligations under both the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention. AG maintains detailed control lists, including human and animal pathogens; plant pathogens; biological equipment (e.g. fermenters and containment facilities); and related technology and software. To learn more, see this page and the annual AG meeting statements.
• Wassenaar Arrangement: an informal, voluntary group of countries collaborating to promote transparency and responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies. While not explicitly focused on biosecurity or biological weapons, the arrangement’s scope includes some dual-use items that are relevant to biological research or production facilities. This includes certain types of equipment and advanced manufacturing systems listed in its Dual-Use Goods and Technologies List, such as some kinds of biological agents, PPE, detection systems, biocatalysts, software for determining the effects of biological weapons, and biopolymers.

Major biosecurity-related developments at BIS

In recent years, BIS has engaged in many biosecurity-relevant activities:

Major recent biosecurity-related developments at BIS

• January 2025: BIS revises the Export Administration Regulations with new controls on certain biotechnology equipment in response to “the accelerating development and deployment of advanced biotechnology tools contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests.”
• October 2023: The Biden administration’s Executive Order on AI (among other things) tasked Commerce with new AI policy responsibilities. Specifically, BIS, leveraging its Defense Production Act (DPA) authorities, now requires companies developing dual-use AI models with biological sequence data to report their activities, security measures, and red-team testing results, with specific thresholds set by computing power. BIS collaborates with other parts of Commerce, especially the US Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute (AISI), to determine the specific information companies must provide about these models
• July 2023: BIS partners with HHS’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to conduct an assessment of the US influenza vaccine industrial base, to understand its supply chain, address deficiencies, and improve monitoring and industry performance.
• December 2021: BIS imposes new restrictions on entities in China, Georgia, Malaysia, and Turkey to deter misuse of biotechnology.
• October 2021: BIS expands controls on exports of software capable of contributing to biological weapons proliferation, including benchtop DNA synthesizers.

BIS offices working on biosecurity policy

Several BIS offices contribute to biosecurity efforts, including (not comprehensive):

Biosecurity-related offices at BIS

1. Office of the Under Secretary: oversees all of BIS, reports to the Secretary of Commerce.
2. Export Administration: designs export control policy, including drafting and publishing changes to the Export Administration Regulations, administering post-license processes, and providing compliance and management guidance to exporters.
   1. Office of Nonproliferation and Foreign Policy Controls (NFPC): serves to prevent the proliferation of WMD and the means to deliver them. NFPC administers the US participation in multilateral export control regimes, including the Australia Group.
      1. Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Controls Division (CBC): “receives and adjudicates applications to export, reexport or transfer (in-country) items that could make a material contribution to the design, development, production or stockpiling of chemical or biological weapons.”
   2. Office of National Security Controls (ONSC): “manages national security (NS) export controls, enforcing multilateral measures under the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, and overseeing US encryption export policies.”
   3. Office of Technology Evaluation (OTE): “analyzes trade data, the impact of export controls on US interests, and the capabilities of the US industrial base to support the national defense.”
   4. International Policy Office (IPO): educates international partners on US export controls and works with partner nations to help them implement similar controls. 
   5. Office of Exporter Services (OExS): helps organizations understand export control regulations and develop effective compliance programs, which is critical since private sector organizations (companies, universities, etc.) are on the front lines of export control implementation.
3. Office of Export Enforcement: investigates export and antiboycott violations; interdicts illegal exports; conducts end-use checks; helps companies to improve export compliance practices.
   1. Office of Enforcement Analysis (OEA): uses all-source intelligence (both classified and unclassified) to conduct research that supports BIS’s various missions. These analyses are critical for “adjudicating export control licenses, preventing the diversion of export-controlled items, identifying potential violators, and facilitating law enforcement actions.”

Working at BIS

BIS hires into the following occupational categories, among others:

• Policy and trade analysts: employees with policy and trade analysis skills help design and modify controls, review license applications, and conduct investigations to inform possible enforcement actions.
• Engineers and technologists: employees with engineering backgrounds conduct technical assessments of dual-use items and provide critical expertise that informs the control design process. As BIS continues to consider whether and how to control emerging technologies (including AI), the Bureau’s demand for specialized technical expertise will likely continue to grow.
• Lawyers: legal training (or at the very least legal expertise) is needed to write effective controls and enforce them.

To find open full-time positions at BIS, visit USAJOBS filtering for “Bureau of Industry and Security”, and check out its Careers page, which may include postings not listed on USAJOBS. You can also follow BIS on LinkedIn to stay updated about their activities and new job postings.

Further reading

• General BIS resources
  • The US Export Control System and the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, Congressional Research Service (June 2021)
  • Export Controls—International Coordination: Issues for Congress, Congressional Research Service (September 2023)
    • A historical account of BIS’s efforts to coordinate export controls with international partners.
  • Export Administration Regulations (EAR) Search Tool
• BIS and AI
  • A Bigger Yard, A Higher Fence: Understanding BIS’s Expanded Controls on Advanced Computing Exports, Center for Security and Emerging Technology (December 2023)
    • Provides an overview of BIS’ updated advanced computing controls from October 17, 2023.
• BIS and biosecurity
  • The Australia Group History, Australia Group 
  • Chemical and Biological Controls, BIS (2017)
  • Talk: BIS Export Licensing for Biological Commodities and Technology, CDC (2015)
  • Export Administration Regulations (EAR) section on the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons, BIS (November 2024)