POLICY REVERSAL: After years of tightening restrictions, the decision to permit sales of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China has sparked objections from some Republicans. Bloomberg US House Republicans are urging arms-sale-style congressional oversight for artificial intelligence (AI) chip exports as the Trump administration moves forward with licenses allowing Nvidia Corp to ship its H200 processor to China. US Representative Brian Mast, Republican chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which supervises export controls, introduced on Friday the AI Overwatch Act. This bill would mandate Congress be notified of AI chip sales to adversaries. According to the draft legislation, any processors matching or exceeding the capability of Nvidia’s H200 would fall under such oversight. Lawmakers would have 30 days to block proposed shipments via a joint resolution and establish a mechanism for “trusted” AI firms to obtain license exemptions when exporting chips to US allies and neutral nations. The bill has received backing from John Moolenaar, head of the US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, along with fellow Republicans Bill Huizenga and Darin LaHood. Last week, Moolenaar sent a letter to US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick requesting a briefing on Trump’s decision to permit H200 and similar chip exports to China, while questioning the administration’s justification. On Thursday, a group of House Democrats led by Representative Gregory Meeks proposed their own AI chip legislation that would outright ban sales of advanced AI chips to China and other countries of concern, while easing licensing for US companies building data centers overseas. These legislative efforts to increase control over advanced chip sales to China come just over a week after the H200 approval, marking a major reversal from years of tightening US export controls. The H200 chip is approximately six times more powerful than the H20—the most capable US chip China is currently allowed to purchase under existing rules, according to a report by the Institute for Progress. The draft bill would grant members of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Banking panels access to data on chip export quantities and end-users, as part of enhanced oversight. Additionally, the legislation would require certifications that the chips will not be used for military, intelligence, or surveillance purposes. It also mandates confirmation that sales to adversarial nations do not cause supply shortages for US consumers. Since the US first restricted advanced AI chip sales in 2022, there has been little support in Washington for intentionally selling such chips to China.

Trump’s readiness to allow exports of more advanced chips like the H200 to China has drawn criticism from some Republicans in Congress, though their opposition has remained measured. At a security forum last week, Senator Dave McCormick expressed cautious concern: “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 administration’s claim that selling AI chips to China would slow Chinese chipmakers’ improvements 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 stated. “You can count on China to be doing everything in its power to develop its own independent capacity, and America’s position should be, in my opinion, doing everything we can to maintain a lead. ”