Anthropic CEO's Hill blitz boosts China chip ban
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) plans to introduce bipartisan legislation with Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) banning the sale of certain AI chips to China, she told reporters on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Lawmakers are rallying around tougher export controls, and this legislation would give Congress some power to block the Trump administration from exporting AI chips to adversaries.
- The push on Capitol Hill comes after President Trump's move to green-light limited sales of Nvidia's chips to China.
Driving the news: Warren's announcement followed a meeting with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Tuesday.
- Amodei, who has been vocal about restricting the sale of U.S. high-tech computing chips to China, met with Senate Banking Committee Republicans and then had a private meeting with Warren, the lead Democrat.
- "We had a good conversation about the importance of keeping high-tech chips here in the U.S.," Warren said, adding that they also spoke about AI safety.
Warren said the bill with Banks will be a Senate version of the AI Overwatch Act.
- That legislation advanced out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee last month despite opposition from White House AI czar David Sacks and MAGA figures like Laura Loomer.
- The bill includes a two-year ban on Nvidia Blackwell chip sales to China and allows the White House to add more countries to the ban list.
- Warren said the bill with Banks is a "re-work" of the GAIN AI Act, which the White House opposed last year and would require chip companies to fulfill purchases from U.S. customers before exporting to "countries of concern," including China.
Warren also said she'll join Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on a bill that would track advanced chips to prevent misuse by foreign adversaries.
Context: The White House and Sacks have sided with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on chips exports.
- They argue that making China dependent on American technology hamstrings them from out-developing the U.S. on chips.
- "A strong bipartisan showing on the need to protect our defense is key," Warren said when asked about the White House's stance. "Selling these chips to the Chinese is bad in the short run and worse in the long run."
What they're saying: Amodei last month told Axios that his message to lawmakers includes pushing for AI transparency legislation, cutting off exports of advanced chips and other high-tech components to China and taxing ultra-wealthy AI executives.
- Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told Axios following the meeting with Amodei that the Anthropic CEO believes "if there's going to be preemption [of state-level AI laws], there has to be something to follow it. And I think he's right."
- Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told Axios that Amodei and Nvidia's Huang have a "difference of agreement" on chips sales to China, but share the goal of U.S. leadership in AI development.
