US Senators Unveil Bill to Block Trump's Relaxation of AI Chip Sales to China
In a rare bipartisan effort, US senators have unveiled a bill aimed at preventing President Donald Trump from loosening rules restricting Beijing's access to advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips. The bill, known as the SAFE CHIPS Act, was filed by Republican Senator Pete Ricketts and Democrat Chris Coons.
The legislation would require the Commerce Department to deny any licence requests for buyers in China, Russia, Iran or North Korea to receive US AI chips more advanced than the ones they currently are allowed to obtain. This ban would be in place for 30 months, after which the Commerce Department would have to brief Congress on any proposed rule changes a month before they take effect.
According to Senator Pete Ricketts, "Denying Beijing access to [the best US] AI chips is essential to our national security." The bill represents a rare effort by Trump's own party to stop him from further relaxing tech export restrictions on China.
The move comes as the Trump administration is considering greenlighting sales of Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips to China. China hawks in Washington fear that Beijing could use these prized chips to supercharge its military with AI-powered weapons and more powerful intelligence and surveillance capabilities.
The bill has been co-sponsored by Republican Dave McCormick, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, and Democrat Andy Kim. It is seen as a significant development in the ongoing debate over US-China trade relations and technology exports.
In a rare bipartisan effort, US senators have unveiled a bill aimed at preventing President Donald Trump from loosening rules restricting Beijing's access to advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips. The bill, known as the SAFE CHIPS Act, was filed by Republican Senator Pete Ricketts and Democrat Chris Coons.
The legislation would require the Commerce Department to deny any licence requests for buyers in China, Russia, Iran or North Korea to receive US AI chips more advanced than the ones they currently are allowed to obtain. This ban would be in place for 30 months, after which the Commerce Department would have to brief Congress on any proposed rule changes a month before they take effect.
According to Senator Pete Ricketts, "Denying Beijing access to [the best US] AI chips is essential to our national security." The bill represents a rare effort by Trump's own party to stop him from further relaxing tech export restrictions on China.
The move comes as the Trump administration is considering greenlighting sales of Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips to China. China hawks in Washington fear that Beijing could use these prized chips to supercharge its military with AI-powered weapons and more powerful intelligence and surveillance capabilities.
The bill has been co-sponsored by Republican Dave McCormick, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, and Democrat Andy Kim. It is seen as a significant development in the ongoing debate over US-China trade relations and technology exports.
US senators r like "hey, dont let china get our ai chips" 
its not like they're gonna use them 2 build a robot overlord or sumthin 
anywayz, i think its cool dat ppl r actually tryin 2 protect our nationz from chinese hackers 
So what's up with this new bill? I mean it's cool that senators from both parties are teaming up to block Trump's relaxation of AI chip sales to China... like, isn't that kinda weird? 
That's definitely something the US doesn't want to happen.
Also, I'm not sure how effective this bill's gonna be... like, is it even possible to stop China from finding ways around the rules? 
US should be careful not to let them get their hands on our most advanced AI chips, it's a huge security risk 
This bill is like, the opposite of what Trump wants 
What if this is just a test run and they're actually serious about making some changes? 
It just feels like we're kicking the can down the road, you know? 