Congress is moving to tighten control over advanced US AI chip exports as lawmakers warn the technology is increasingly central to modern warfare.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday advanced the AI Overwatch Act during a full committee markup, pushing forward legislation designed to block adversary militaries from accessing weapon-enabling artificial intelligence and to anchor allies to US AI systems.
The bill was introduced last month by Committee Chairman Brian Mast and would codify national security requirements tied to the Commerce Department’s recent H200 export rule, applying congressional oversight to some of the most advanced AI chips produced by US companies.
Lawmakers backing the measure say the technology now sits at the intersection of innovation and national defense, with implications far beyond commercial use. Advanced AI chips are considered dual-use tools that can power military command and control systems, surveillance, cyber operations, nuclear weapons development and autonomous weapons.
Chairman Mast says the legislation is a response to growing pressure from chipmakers seeking to sell large volumes of cutting-edge processors abroad, including to firms with ties to China’s military apparatus.
“Companies like Nvidia are requesting to sell millions of advanced AI chips, which are the cutting edge of warfare, to Chinese military companies like Alibaba and Tencent. These are the same companies that work to spy against the United States of America, companies that the Chinese Communist Party uses to try and defeat the United States.”
He says the bill is intended to draw a clear line around technologies that could shift military power if transferred without restrictions.
“This bill is very simple. It keeps America’s advanced AI chips out of the hands of Chinese commie spies.”
Supporters of the legislation argue that the United States already applies similar oversight to other sensitive military technologies. Since 1976, Congress has reviewed foreign arms sales that could threaten national security, operating on the principle that technologies capable of altering the balance of power require legislative scrutiny.
The AI Overwatch Act currently has 15 cosponsors and has received backing from several policy and industry groups, including the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Action, American Compass, Americans for Responsible Innovation, the American Security Fund, and Exiger.
AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks pushes back on the bill, agreeing that the proposal is designed to undermine Trump’s America First strategy.
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