Defying a pressure campaign from the White House and right-wing influencers, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 42-2 on Wednesday in favor of a bill that would allow Congress to restrict the sale of coveted computer chips to China and other nations.
Last year, the Trump administration and its Big Tech allies signed deals to sell chips critical to producing artificial intelligence tools to countries like China. This was a reversal of restrictions put in place by the Biden administration to ensure the U.S. doesn’t lose ground in the race to develop AI. The moves were unpopular among some hawkish members in President Donald Trump’s party — lawmakers who align with AI skeptics in the MAGA movement who have grown wary of the president’s deference to Big Tech oligarchs.
As CNBC reports, major chipmaker Nvidia would be one of the chief beneficiaries of the administration’s plans to sell chips to China. (One condition of such sales is that the chipmaker would give the U.S. government a 25% cut.) The AI Overwatch Act, proposed by Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., could throw a wrench into things:
It would require both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Banking Committee to approve any shipment licenses for advanced chips in 30 days, giving lawmakers the power to block sales through a joint resolution. The bill comes as the Trump Administration plans to grant licenses allowing Nvidia to sell its H200 chips to China, which are far more powerful than the processors previously permitted for export.
CNBC continued:
If passed, the AI Overwatch Act would revoke existing licenses for such AI chip transfers and impose a temporary ban until the administration submits a national security strategy on AI exports. It includes exemptions for ‘trusted’ U.S. companies shipping chips abroad under U.S. control, provided they meet security standards.
Mast’s bill was opposed by Trump’s AI and cryptocurrency czar David Sachs (a major investor in AI), as well as by Nvidia, which some analysts project could make as much as $30 billion in one year if the administration’s chip plans go forward.
Congress isn’t the only looming obstacle to those plans. Reuters, citing three unnamed people briefed on the matter, reported last week that Chinese customs authorities had said that Nvidia’s H200 chips “are not permitted to enter China,” adding an additional layer of confusion to the situation. On social media, some MAGA influencers, including Laura Loomer, launched a pressure campaign to derail the bill, but the effort’s legitimacy came into question when online observers noted that many of the posts used similar phrasing, suggesting the campaign may have been coordinated. The campaign failed to thwart Mast’s bill in committee. But expect more opposition from pro-tech Trump supporters and from Big Tech as Congress considers whether to turn this proposal into law.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. 
