US revisits its export curbs on AI chips

POLICY REVERSAL: The decision to allow sales of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China came after years of tightening controls and has drawn objections among some Republicans US House Republicans are calling for arms-sale-style congressional oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) chip exports as US President Donald Trump’s administration moves to approve licenses for Nvidia Corp to ship its H200 processor to China.US Representative Brian Mast, the Republican chairman of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which oversees export controls, on Friday introduced a bill dubbed the AI Overwatch Act that would require the US Congress to be notified of AI chips sales to adversaries. Any processors equal to or higher in capabilities than Nvidia’s H20 would be subject to oversight, the draft bill says.Lawmakers would have 30 days to block proposed shipments through a joint resolution and create a way for so-called “trusted” AI companies to receive license exemptions when sending chips to US allies and neutral countries.The measure has won support from US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party head John Moolenaar, along with other fellow Republican representatives Bill Huizenga and Darin LaHood. Moolenaar last week sent a letter to US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, requesting a briefing on Trump’s decision to allow exports to China of the H200 and comparable chips, while also challenging the administration’s rationale in granting its blessing. A group of US House Democrats led by US Representative Gregory Meeks on Thursday introduced their own AI chip bill, which would outright block sales of advanced AI chips to China and other countries of concern while easing license requirements for US companies building data centers abroad.Efforts by lawmakers to gain more say over sales of advanced chips to China come a little more than a week after the H200 decision, which marked a significant reversal from several years of tightening US export controls. The H200 is about six times more powerful than the H20, the most powerful US chip that existing rules allow China to purchase, an Institute for Progress report said.The draft would allow members of foreign affairs committee and US Senate Banking panels to see the number of chips up for export as well as the end-users buying them, as part of the oversight. The legislation would also require a certification that the chips would not be used for military, intelligence or surveillances purposes. There is also a required certification that sales to adversarial nations do not create a supply shortage for US customers.Since the US first restricted sales of advanced AI chips in 2022, the idea of intentionally selling advanced chips to China has found scant support in Washington. Trump’s willingness to sell more advanced chips such as the H200 in China has drawn objections among some Republicans in the US Congress, although they remain measured in their criticism of the administration. US Senator Dave McCormick, treaded carefully at a security forum last week, saying: “I’m concerned... I’m not clear on why that is the right path for us. I want to be convinced because I keep asking the question.”McCormick questioned the Trump administration’s argument that selling AI chips to China would slow the ability of Chinese chipmakers to gain in product performance and quality.“It’s not clear to me how that would in any way slow their advances, and it seems more likely that it would accelerate them,” he said. “You can count on China to be doing everything in its power to develop its own independent capacity, and that America’s position should be, in my opinion, doing everything we can to maintain a lead.”