Senators introduce legislation to prevent Trump from relaxing restrictions on AI chip sales to China

WASHINGTON, Dec 4 A bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including prominent Republican Tom Cotton, revealed a new bill on Thursday designed to prevent the Trump administration from loosening limits on Beijings access to advanced artificial intelligence chips 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. It mandates that the Commerce Department deny any requests from China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea to obtain U.S. AI chips that are more advanced than those currently allowed for a period of 30 months. After that period, the Commerce Department would be required to brief Congress on any potential changes to export rules one month before they take effect.

"Preventing China from acquiring top-tier American AI chips is crucial for our national security," said Ricketts. The bill also has co-sponsors including Republican Dave McCormick and Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Andy Kim. This move marks an unusual instance of members of Trumps own party attempting to block him from relaxing technology export controls to China.

The legislation emerges amid concerns over Chinas restrictions on rare earth metals, which global tech companies rely on. Previously, the Commerce Department under Trump imposed and then reversed limits on Nvidias H200 AI chips, drawing criticism from Republican Representative John Moolenaar, chair of the House China Select Committee. In negotiations with China, Trump delayed rules restricting U.S. tech exports to blacklisted Chinese companies and has expressed intent to overturn Biden-era restrictions on AI chip exports globally.

The bill is being introduced as the Trump administration considers approving sales of Nvidias H200 AI chips to China. Lawmakers concerned about national security warn that Beijing could use these advanced chips to enhance military capabilities and AI-powered intelligence and surveillance systems.

Author: Ava Mitchell