House Democrats want to define what type of chips can be sent to China
New bill sheds light on what kind of high-end chips are considered too sensitive; proposal lacks GOP support
House Democrats unveiled a new bill on Friday to set legal thresholds for chips deemed too advanced to send to China without congressional approval, attempting to set clear limits in the ongoing debate about how tightly to control the flow of the technology amid national security concerns.
Under the bill, a chip would be subject to review if it exceeds certain benchmarks, including a total processing performance 2,400 or performance density of 1.6, memory speeds of 4,100 gigabytes per second, or interconnect speeds of 1,100 GB/s. Chips that combine memory and interconnect speeds above 5,100 GB/s would also qualify.
To become law, the measure would need to clear both the Republican-led House and Senate, where it faces long odds without backing from the party.
“For years, the Chinese Communist Party has treated America’s cutting-edge chips like an all-you-can-eat buffet, fueling surveillance, military modernisation, and influence campaigns,” Krishnamoorthi, the ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said.
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“This bill puts an end to that practice. If an advanced AI chip is headed to [China], the US government must prove that its export to China serves our national security. Either Congress says ‘yes,’ or it doesn’t go at all,” Krishnamoorthi added.