United States (federal) · regulation
EAR: what it requires, and the records to keep
The EAR, administered by Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), control dual-use and less-sensitive military items through the Commerce Control List, country rules, end-use and end-user restrictions. For AI, they control advanced computing chips and related items, and a January 2025 rule added a control on certain closed AI model weights (ECCN 4E091) that BIS announced it would rescind and has not enforced since May 2025.
01 / What it requires
What EAR requires
Anyone exporting, reexporting or transferring items subject to the EAR (commodities, software, technology), including releases of technology to foreign persons in the US.
- 01Classify items (ECCN or EAR99) and determine licence requirements by destination, end user and end use.
- 02Obtain BIS licences or use a valid licence exception before exporting controlled items or technology.
- 03Treat release of controlled technology or source code to foreign persons as a deemed export.
- 04Screen parties against the Entity List and other restricted-party lists.
- 05Apply advanced computing controls and due diligence for AI chips and data-center items.
- 06Keep export records for five years.
02 / AI work
Where it touches AI work
Controls advanced AI chips and related technology; ECCN 4E091 (closed model weights above a training-compute threshold) remains in the CFR text but BIS stopped enforcing it in May 2025 and plans formal rescission; published (open) model weights and software are generally not subject to the EAR.
03 / Dates
The dates that matter
Framework for AI Diffusion rule adds ECCN 4E091 model-weights control
BIS announces rescission of AI Diffusion rule; enforcement halted
License review for certain advanced chips to China moves to case-by-case
UAE moved to Country Group A:5 with license-free advanced computing access
04 / Enforcement
Who enforces it
BIS Office of Export Enforcement and DOJ. Civil penalties up to $374,474 per violation or twice the transaction value; criminal penalties up to $1 million and 20 years' imprisonment.
05 / Records
Records an organisation keeps
What an auditor or an inquiry usually asks to see. Your obligations depend on your role and your facts.
- 01Item classification records (ECCN determinations)
- 02Licences, licence exception determinations and conditions
- 03Restricted-party screening logs
- 04Export transaction records kept five years
Optional evidence · where Planisphere fits
Keep a record anyone can check
When your team meets a duty, Planisphere can seal the event it reports as a receipt.
A disclosure shown, a review signed, a model change approved: the event your system reports.
The event becomes a sealed receipt, dated and attributed to whoever is signed in.
Paste the receipt into Verify. No account or key.
A record supports your compliance evidence process. It is not a legal finding or a certification. Systems that call Planisphere's gate API can also hold or refuse an action before it runs.
QUESTIONS
The questions that come next
Are AI model weights subject to EAR export controls?+
Usually not, though some can be. Published, openly available weights are generally not subject to the EAR. In January 2025 the AI Diffusion rule created ECCN 4E091 for certain closed weights trained above a compute threshold, but on May 13, 2025 BIS said it would rescind the rule and told enforcement officials not to enforce it. The 4E091 text still appears in the CFR because no formal rescission had been published as of October 2026. Weights can still be caught by end-use and end-user rules, such as Entity List restrictions, so classify each model and screen recipients. Read the full answer
SOURCES
Go back to the source
Miller & Chevalier
CHANGE LOG
What changed, and when
Rebuilt from primary sources; facts checked on this date.
Related: EAR for defense AI workflows · NIST AI RMF · OMB M-25-21/22 · DoW RAI S&IP · EO 14179 · FIPS 140-3 · SHA-256 / FIPS 180-4