By Brian Swint

Microsoft will try to get President Donald Trump to change his mind about restricting exports of the most advanced artificial-intelligence chips.

The software company that makes the Windows operating system will argue curbs on semiconductors that can be used in data centers for training AI models will ultimately lead to U.S. allies turning to China for their needs. It's planning to publish a blog post making the case on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Along with China, which Trump views as a technology rival, U.S. allies including India, Israel, and Switzerland are also restricted from receiving the most advanced chips under the current tier-based system. China is citing that as a reason for why it will make a better long-term partner for those countries, Microsoft President Brad Smith said in an interview with the Journal.

Microsoft's intervention could have an impact on the technology trade war between the U.S. and China. The latest salvo in that standoff was the speedy rise in popularity of DeepSeek, a Chinese-developed AI product that claims to have been produced at a fraction of the cost of American-developed competitors. President Joe Biden imposed export controls on chips to China back in 2022.

Tech companies have been working hard to get into Trump's good graces. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Google-parent Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, and Tesla's Elon Musk all attended Trump's inauguration in January. Musk has become one of Trump's closest advisors.

Microsoft stock was edging up 0.3% in premarket trading Thursday. S&P 500 and Dow industrials futures were rising 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively.

Write to Brian Swint at brian.swint@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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February 27, 2025 08:37 ET (13:37 GMT)

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