Democratic and Republican senators in the United States joined hands to introduce a bill to block exports to China of Nvidia's cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
On the 4th (local time), according to the Financial Times (FT) in the United Kingdom, the U.S. Senate introduced on a bipartisan basis the Secure and Feasible Export Semiconductors Act (SAFE). The bill requires the Minister of Commerce to mandatorily deny licenses to export advanced semiconductor chips to China for the next 30 months.
If the bill passes, exports to China of Nvidia's latest AI chip, the H200, and the Blackwell series are expected to take a direct hit.
The bill was co-sponsored by Republican Pete Ricketts, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, with Republican Sens. Tom Cotton and Dave McCormick and Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Andy Kim also signing on as co-sponsors.
Ricketts said, "The United States holds an overwhelming advantage in terms of computing power, which is why it leads China in AI," adding, "To safeguard this edge, we must thoroughly block China's access to advanced chips."
Coons also said, "The course of the 21st century depends on who wins the AI race," adding, "It will determine whether that technology is rooted in free markets and democracy or in the values of the Chinese Communist Party."
The bill was introduced as the White House is reviewing whether to allow exports of Nvidia's H200 chips. Some Washington figures have voiced concern that President Trump, mindful of the trade deal reached with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Oct., could unduly play down security issues.
In fact, those concerns grew after it became known the previous day that the U.S. Treasury had moved to impose cyberhacking sanctions on China's Ministry of State Security but then halted the effort.
Amid this, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was reported to have conveyed in meetings the previous day with President Trump and Republican senators that advanced chips should continue to be exported to the Chinese market.
In response, Republican Sen. John Kennedy said in an interview with The Associated Press, "He has more money than God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and he wants even more than that," criticizing Huang.
Steve Bannon, a former strategist for President Trump, joined in, saying, "White House AI czar David Sacks is acting like a spy for the Chinese Communist Party, and Jensen Huang is like an arms dealer," delivering a blistering critique.