Senators introduce bill to prevent Trump from easing restrictions on AI chip sales to China

A coalition of U.S. senators from both parties, including Republican Tom Cotton, unveiled a bill on Thursday aimed at blocking the Trump administration from loosening rules on the sale of artificial intelligence chips to China for the next 2.5 years.

The proposed legislation, called the SAFE CHIPS Act, was introduced by Republican Senator Pete Ricketts and Democrat Chris Coons. Under the bill, the Commerce Department would be required to deny any license requests for AI chips more advanced than those currently permitted to buyers in China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea for a period of 30 months. Following that period, the department would need to notify Congress a month in advance of any changes to the rules.

"Preventing Beijing from gaining access to the most advanced American AI chips is critical for our national security," said Ricketts in a statement.

The bill also has support from Republican Dave McCormick and Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Andy Kim. It marks an unusual instance of Trumps own party seeking to stop him from relaxing technology export limitations to China.

The proposal comes amid tensions over Chinese export restrictions on rare earth metals, crucial to global technology production. Previously, the Trump administration imposed and later eased restrictions on Nvidia's H200 AI chips, drawing criticism from Republican Representative John Moolenaar, chair of the House China Select Committee.

As part of negotiations to delay Chinese rare earth controls, Trump postponed by a year a rule restricting U.S. tech exports to certain blacklisted Chinese companies and has indicated plans to overturn a Biden-era policy limiting global AI chip exports to countries where there are concerns about chip diversion to China.

The legislation arises as the Trump administration considers approving sales of Nvidia's H200 AI chips to China. Lawmakers concerned about Chinas military and surveillance advancements warn that these chips could significantly enhance Beijings AI-driven capabilities.

Author: Natalie Monroe