Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Top Senate Democrats in a letter sent Monday to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are sounding the alarm over the decision to resume Nvidia AI chip sales to China.
Why it matters: The Trump administration had previously restricted certain Nvidia chips from being exported to China over national security concerns, but reversed course after meeting with CEO Jensen Huang.
What they're saying: "Restricting access to leading-edge chips has been the defining barrier for the PRC's efforts to achieve AI parity," senators wrote in a letter shared exclusively with Axios.
- Sens. Chuck Schumer, Mark Warner, Chris Coons, Elizabeth Warren and Jack Reed signed onto the letter.
The senators also take issue with the Trump administration's AI action plan endorsing the spread of U.S. open-weight models.
- Restricting such models was another way to stop Chinese AI advancements, they say.
- "Limiting the PRC's access to advanced compute has been a focus of Congress: one with a strong bipartisan commitment across both chambers and both parties."
"There are legitimate measures that should be further explored to prevent the PRC's unfettered advancement in AI contrary to our national security interests," the senators write, urging Lutnick to "swiftly reverse course."
What we're watching: President Trump signed an executive order last week tasking Lutnick with establishing a new "American AI Exports Program" to designate certain full-stack AI tech package proposals as "priority AI export packages."
- These packages will benefit from a host of federal financing tools from direct loans to political risk insurance.
