Senators Introduce SAFE CHIPS Act to Prevent Relaxation of AI Chip Export Restrictions to China

A bipartisan coalition of U.S. senators, including Republican Senator Tom Cotton, introduced legislation on Thursday aimed at preventing the Trump administration from easing export controls on advanced artificial intelligence chips to China.

The proposed legislation, formally titled the SAFE CHIPS Act, was filed by Republican Senator Pete Ricketts and Democratic Senator Chris Coons. It mandates that the U.S. Commerce Department deny export license applications for AI chips more advanced than currently permitted when the end-user is located in China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea. This restriction would remain in place for 30 months.

Following that period, the Commerce Department would be required to provide Congress with a detailed briefing at least 30 days prior to implementing any proposed changes to export control regulations.

“Restricting Beijing’s access to America’s most advanced AI chips is a matter of national security,” Senator Ricketts said in a formal statement.

The legislation, co-sponsored by Republican Dave McCormick and Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Andy Kim, is notable as a rare intra-party initiative aimed at curbing President Trump’s potential policy shifts regarding technology exports to China.

This legislative move follows controversy over the Commerce Department’s recent decision to temporarily ease restrictions on Nvidia’s H20 AI chips to China, an action taken as part of ongoing trade negotiations involving China’s own curbs on rare earth metal exports. The rollback drew criticism from Representative John Moolenaar, Republican chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

President Trump has also delayed the implementation of a regulation designed to further restrict exports to Chinese firms already on the U.S. Entity List, while opposing broader Biden-era policies that expanded AI chip export controls globally to counter potential smuggling to China.

The introduction of the SAFE CHIPS Act coincides with reports that the Trump administration is considering approval for the sale of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to Chinese customers. Critics in Washington remain concerned that such high-performance semiconductors could significantly enhance China’s military capabilities and its surveillance infrastructure through advanced AI technologies.