U.S. Senator Introduces Legislation to Prevent U.S.-China Cooperation on Artificial Intelligence
First on Fox News, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has introduced legislation to prevent U.S.-China cooperation on artificial intelligence. The bill, known as the Decoupling America’s Artificial Intelligence Capabilities from China Act, aims to cut off exports and imports of AI technology from China, prohibit American companies from conducting research there, and restrict U.S. investment in AI tech companies in China.
Senator Hawley states that “Every dollar and gig of data that flows into Chinese AI are dollars and data that will ultimately be used against the United States… America cannot afford to empower our greatest adversary.”
The bill was introduced in response to the recent launch of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI model that costs less to run than existing models, causing a ripple effect in U.S. markets. Chipmaker Nvidia stocks dropped on Monday due to the announcement, and it is still gaining ground after several days.
China’s economic competitiveness has surpassed that of U.S. business leaders and lawmakers to agree on a response. Senator Hawley’s bill would cover any AI-related technology instead of specific entities, making it a unique approach.
The White House has also reacted to the issue, with AI and Crypto ‘Czar’ David Sacks stating that “there is substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is they distilled the knowledge out of OpenAI’s models.”
The Chinese are believed to have used existing models from American companies like OpenAI and Meta to train their own model. Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly investigating the possible breach of data.
President Joe Biden has imposed export controls on AI chips in his final weeks in office, while his predecessor, President Donald Trump, referred to the rise of DeepSeek as a “wake-up call” for U.S. industries. The current administration is said to be considering the national security implications of the Chinese AI model.
