Question · EAR
Are AI model weights subject to EAR export controls?
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.
01 / The answer
The short answer
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.
02 / The rule
What EAR requires
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.
- 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.
03 / Records
Records to keep
- 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.
SOURCES
Go back to the source
Miller & Chevalier
RELATED
Related: EAR: the full guide