A House committee focused on foreign affairs approved bipartisan legislation on Wednesday that calls for arms-sale style congressional oversight of advanced AI chip exports. — Bloomberg
WASHINGTON: Congress is one step closer to gaining the authority to review artificial intelligence (AI) chip sales to China, a move likely to open a rift with the Trump administration over plans to let Nvidia Corp sell its powerful H200 processors to the world’s second-largest economy.
A House committee focused on foreign affairs approved bipartisan legislation on Wednesday that calls for arms-sale style congressional oversight of advanced AI chip exports.
Beyond oversight, the text endorsed by the panel’s Republicans and Democrats would outright ban sales of Nvidia’s more advanced Blackwell chips to China for at least two years, codifying existing export controls into law.
The bill marks a response to President Donald Trump’s decision last month to ease longstanding export controls on China, a move aimed at spurring adoption of American AI technology in global markets but one that drew strenuous objections from national security hawks in Congress.
Trump’s approval for Nvidia’s H200 sales to Chinese customers was formalised by a new rule issued last week by the Commerce Department.
The panel approved the bill by a 42-2 margin. It now heads to the House for a floor vote.
The Senate has yet to release a companion version, but lawmakers there have introduced a separate bill that would effectively block H200 sales.
“I have been so worried that the president wouldn’t stop at just H200s,” Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the panel, said on Wednesday.
He added that lawmakers want to “send a clear message that our national security, our foreign policy and our technological crown jewels are not for sale.”
Under the legislation, the administration would be required to notify Congress of advanced AI chip sales before they’re approved, giving lawmakers the power to review and block export licences to China, Russia, Iran, and other adversaries through a joint resolution.
The measure calls for allowing members of House Foreign Affairs and Senate Banking committees to see the numbers of chips up for export as well as the end-users buying them.
It also creates a way for so-called “trusted” US persons AI companies to receive licence exemptions when sending chips to US allies and neutral countries – an approach commended by Microsoft Corp executive Fred Humphries – and requires the administration to submit a strategy on its policy for maintaining the US lead in the AI race.
Humphries said in a December statement on LinkedIn that Microsoft appreciates lawmakers’ focus on ensuring the United States leads in AI but has not endorsed a specific bill. Spokespeople for Nvidia didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
White House AI Czar David Sacks has publicly criticised the bill, the latest in a series of congressional attempts to rein in Trump administration efforts to let Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc reenter China’s fast-growing AI chip market. — Bloomberg
