Bipartisan Bill Proposes 30-Month Halt on Key Chip Exports
The Senate is taking steps to prevent Nvidia from supplying its most advanced artificial intelligence chips to China. A bipartisan bill introduced on Thursday proposes a 30-month moratorium on export approvals for the company's H200 and Blackwell chips. The primary objective of this legislation is to impede Beijing's ability to enhance its AI systems with cutting-edge hardware. This initiative arises amid ongoing deliberations within the White House, under the Trump administration, concerning the continued export of these critical chips. The internal debate has spurred opposition from lawmakers who believe the United States is granting China excessive opportunities for growth in the high-end computing sector.
The proposed legislation, titled the Secure and Feasible Exports Chips Act, mandates the commerce secretary to deny export licenses for top-tier processors destined for China for a duration of two and a half years. This measure would effectively cease all sales of H200 and Blackwell chips to the region. These particular chips are fundamental components for large AI models, data center infrastructure, and national-scale computing capabilities. Lawmakers contend that China should not have direct access to such powerful technology while the two nations are engaged in a competitive race for AI dominance.
Senators Advocate for Stringent Controls on Advanced Chip Exports
Leading the bill are Senator Pete Ricketts, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations East Asia Subcommittee, and Senator Chris Coons, the ranking Democrat on the panel. Senator Ricketts asserted that the United States maintains its lead in the AI race due to its "dominance of global compute power" and emphasized that "denying Beijing access to these chips is therefore essential." He further stated that solidifying existing restrictions imposed by President Trump, while U.S. companies continue their innovation, would "allow us to widen our compute lead exponentially."
Senator Coons remarked that the ongoing competition will define "the rest of the 21st century" and posed the question of whether the future will be shaped by American principles of "free thought and free markets" or by those of the Chinese Communist Party. Other notable supporters of the bill include Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Dave McCormick, as well as Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Andy Kim.
This legislative push occurs amidst heightened tensions in Washington. Some proponents of a hardline stance on China suspect that former President Donald Trump may be hesitant to implement stronger security measures to safeguard the trade agreement he negotiated with Xi Jinping in October. Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported that the U.S. Treasury had postponed a plan to sanction China's Ministry of State Security in response to a cyber operation known as "Salt Typhoon," which impacted American telecommunications companies. Senior U.S. officials have also indicated that the administration currently has no plans for significant new export controls on China.
Industry Leaders and Washington Differ on Chip Policy
According to tech analyst Saif Khan from the Institute for Progress, China would gain substantial advantages if granted unrestricted access to the H200 chips. Khan explained that this would enable Beijing to develop frontier-level supercomputers for advanced AI applications, even if the operational costs were slightly higher than using Blackwell chips. He also noted that it would empower Chinese cloud companies to compete more effectively with major U.S. cloud providers.
Jensen Huang, Nvidia's CEO, met with former President Donald Trump and Republican senators from the banking committee on Wednesday. Prior to the meeting, Huang expressed that China would likely not accept less advanced chips and argued that U.S. companies should be permitted to export their most sophisticated hardware rather than downgraded versions.
Senator John Kennedy, a Republican member of the committee, voiced his disagreement with Huang's position. Kennedy informed reporters that he did not consider Huang a "credible source" regarding the type of technology the United States should export to China. Kennedy commented, "He’s got more money than the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and he wants even more," adding that Huang was not someone he would trust for "objective advice."
Steve Bannon, a former White House strategist and a prominent figure in the MAGA movement, advocated for an immediate cessation of all advanced chip exports to China. Bannon highlighted the emergence of Chinese AI companies such as DeepSeek and stated, "If this is in fact a 'Sputnik Moment' because of DeepSeek then we should ban all chip sales, especially high-end, but also stop all financial support — no access to debt or equity capital markets, no training, no Chinese students — just like in the cold war about nuclear weapons."
Bannon also criticized Jensen Huang and David Sacks, an advisor on AI in the previous administration who supports a controlled export strategy to foster reliance on the American tech ecosystem among foreign companies. Bannon asserted, "David Sacks has acted as the agent for the Chinese Communist party and Jensen Huang is the arms merchant."
In response to inquiries about the bill, Nvidia stated that the AI action plan "wisely recognizes non-military businesses everywhere should be able to choose the American technology stack, promoting US jobs and promoting national security." Addressing Bannon's remarks, the company commented, "AI is not an atomic bomb. No one should have an atomic bomb. Everyone should have AI."