“For too long, the Chinese Communist Party has exploited the weaknesses of its export control enforcement system,” said Rep. John Mourenard (R-Mich.).
On May 15, bipartisan House members introduced a bill aimed at preventing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from accessing advanced American chips.
John Mourenaar (r-mich.) and Raja Krishnamoorti (d-ill.), chair and ranking members of the CCP House Selection Committee, Rick Crawford (r-ark.), Bill Foster (d-ill.), and Bill Gotttima (d-calif.), respectively, point to the “attachment of evidence” that CCPs have access to limited technology.
Lawmakers say the access can enable weapons that can be used against the US in conflict, advance the Chinese administration’s surveillance situation and replace the advantages of the US technology industry in AI and other areas.
The CHIP Security Act enforces advanced AI chip location checks, mandatory reports from chip manufacturers regarding potential product conversions, and requires the Department of Commerce to study additional necessary steps.
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CCP Workaround
When Chinese AI company Deepseek launched its global free chatbot in January, it shook the tech industry and the market. That’s because the developers claimed they ran on a series of too-advanced chips that were developed at a certain cost of competitors such as ChatGPT and were specifically developed to stick to US export controls.
In February, Chinese state media reported that Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei told Chinese administration leader Xi Jinping that China would reach 70% semiconductor self-sufficiency by 2028.
The US has updated its export controls multiple times in 2022, limiting more technology and blacklist end users, but on a per-entity basis. For example, the Nvidia H800 chip, developed as a watered-down H100 chip for the Chinese market, which Deepseek said is using publicly, was added to the export control list in late 2023.
According to records of public comments on these rules, companies tend to oppose widespread restrictions. Because there is a risk of not knowing when you violate these rules.
