Export-control restrictions on technology are often futile and produce unintended consequences, as illustrated by a Toys R Us PlayStation that exceeded U.S. military computing-speed restrictions but was freely sellable for $399 because it was made by a Japanese company.
Michael Dell recounts bringing a $399 PlayStation to the Pentagon to show generals it exceeded official computing export-control limits yet was freely purchasable, illustrating how such restrictions often fail and create unintended consequences. ✦ AI generated
Michael Dell · BG2 Pod · 2025-07-10 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 73:34
and we said, you know, this exceeds the MTOP uh restriction, right? Uh but unfortunately, you know, it's not it's made by a Japanese company and so, you know, it doesn't follow under the rules, so anybody can buy it. It's it's also $399, right? So, uh, you guys think you're going to control the access to this thing or little things that, you know, move easily, uh, you're kind of fooling yourselves.
verbatim transcript · starts at 73:34
73:34department had this thing called MTOPS and it was a it was a uh Bill might remember this but it was it was like a restriction on how fast the computer was that you know you had to get approval from the government and to sell it. And uh I was in this group of technology CEOs and we we went we went to the Pentagon to talk to the generals and uh
74:00and before we went we went to Toys R Us store and we bought a PlayStation [Laughter] and we took it out of the box and we brought it to the the Pentagon, you know, this big room and we, you know, set the PlayStation down on there and we said, you know, this exceeds the MTOP uh restriction, >> right? >> Uh but unfortunately, you know, it's not it's made by a Japanese company and so,
74:28you know, it doesn't follow under the rules, so anybody can buy it. It's it's also $399, right? So, uh, you guys think you're going to control the access to this thing or little things that, you know, move easily, uh, you're kind of fooling yourselves. >> Yeah. >> And so, we have to come up with more intelligent ways to restrict access to the most advanced technologies. And um
75:01often times you just get all kinds of unintended consequences with these rules that are created and it doesn't create the outcome that that uh the government was originally looking for. >> Well, and and I think that's a a good way to wrap. Um Michael, it's awesome having you here. I I I wanted to say, you know, Michael and myself, Darasher Shahi, David Solomon from Goldman, Renee Hos from ARM, uh, you know, uh, Bill
75:32McDermott from, uh, uh, Service Now, and and a group of us were at the White House, uh, a few weeks ago to testify on the Invest America Act, and Michael kicked it off, and, uh, if you haven't seen the video of it, we'll include it here. you should watch it. But he reminded everybody, captivated the entire room. >> We view this initiative as a powerful platform for philanthropic innovation