[News] US Lawmakers Seek 30-Month Ban on Advanced AI Chips to China, Hitting NVIDIA H200 and Blackwell

The U.S. is moving to tighten its grip on AI-related technologies, with lawmakers pushing to block China’s access to advanced American AI capabilities. According to Financial Times, a newly introduced bipartisan bill would bar NVIDIA from supplying China with its high-end H200 and Blackwell processors.

The measure, called the Secure and Feasible Exports (SAFE) Chips Act, would mandate that the Commerce Department halt export licenses for chip sales to adversaries such as China and Russia for at least 30 months, Bloomberg notes. Bloomberg also reports that the bill would apply to any processors exceeding the performance of chips already approved for export, covering products from AMD and Google.

Reuters notes that the bill, introduced by Republican Senator Pete Ricketts and Democrat Chris Coons, marks a rare move by members of Trump’s own party to prevent him from further easing tech export controls on China. Ricketts said the bill is essential to preserving the U.S. advantage over China in AI. Bloomberg cites him as saying that the most advanced AI chips are produced by American companies, and that denying Beijing access to them is critical to U.S. national security.

The legislation also poses a new challenge for NVIDIA, undercutting its effort to persuade the Trump administration and Congress to relax export restrictions on its high-end AI chips, Bloomberg indicates. Reuters adds that the bill comes as the administration is weighing whether to authorize sales of NVIDIA’s H200 AI processors to China.

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(Photo credit: NVIDIA)