A bill that would prevent the Trump administration from relaxing regulations that limit Beijing's access to AI chips from Nvidia and AMD for 2.5 years was introduced on Thursday by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including well-known Republican China hawk Tom Cotton.
Republican Senator Pete Ricketts and Democrat Chris Coons introduced the SAFE CHIPS Act. In order for purchasers in China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea to receive U.S. AI chips that are more sophisticated than those they are now permitted to obtain for 30 months, the Commerce Department, which is in charge of export controls, would have to reject any licensing requests. Any proposed rule modifications would then need to be briefed to Congress one month prior to their implementation.
Co-sponsored by Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Andy Kim and Republicans Dave McCormick, the bill is an uncommon attempt, partially spearheaded by Trump's own party, to prevent him from further easing limits on tech exports to China.
Our national security depends on denying Beijing access to (the greatest American) AI processors," Ricketts stated in a statement.
According to Reuters, the law comes as the Trump administration considers approving sales of Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips to China.
Washington's China hawks worry that Beijing would utilize the valuable chips to bolster its armed forces with AI-powered weaponry and more potent intelligence and surveillance capabilities.
Republican Representative John Moolenaar, who chairs the House China Select Committee, criticized Trump's Commerce Department for imposing and then lifting restrictions on Nvidia's H20 AI chips in response to new Chinese export restrictions on the rare earth metals that multinational tech companies depend on. Another competitor of Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, is keen to sell to China.
Trump has vowed to repeal a Biden-era rule limiting AI chip exports to nations worldwide, partly due to worries about chip smuggling to China, and has pushed back by a year a rule restricting U.S. tech exports to units of already-blacklisted Chinese companies as part of negotiations with China to postpone its own rare earth regulations.
The bill should be passed immediately, according to Greg Allen, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C. He noted that the United States cannot stop China from attempting to quickly reduce its reliance on American technology.
