A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced the Secure and Feasible Exports Act, or SAFE CHIPS Act, aimed at preventing the Trump administration from loosening existing export rules. According to the bill text described in the article, the measure would require the US Commerce Department to deny license requests for buyers in China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea to receive any and all US Artificial Intelligence chips more advanced than those they are currently allowed to procure for at least 30 months. The proposal specifically targets vendors and products from US companies such as NVIDIA and AMD.
The move builds on existing US restrictions motivated by concerns that advanced Artificial Intelligence hardware could be diverted to military or sensitive technological programs. The article notes broader geopolitical friction, including recent trade measures and a Chinese restriction on rare earth material exports, and highlights that China controls 90% of the world’s supply of those elements. A line quoted in the story framed the policy rationale succinctly: “Denying Beijing access to [the best US] Artificial Intelligence chips is essential to our national security.”
For chipmakers the bill would complicate commercial planning. The piece recounts NVIDIA’s recent experience with H20 Artificial Intelligence Chips, where CEO Jensen Huang secured permission to resume sales in China only after agreeing to give 15% of all Artificial Intelligence chip sales to the US government, while Chinese firms were advised to buy domestic alternatives. Huang also said sales fell from 95% to zero when the prior ban took effect. The SAFE CHIPS Act arrives as the administration considers whether to permit exports of more powerful H200 Artificial Intelligence chips, and the article cautions that even an approval might not guarantee acceptance by Chinese customers. Sources cited include Bloomberg, Reuters, and Al-Jazeera, and the bill has not yet been passed.
