Should the best AI chips in the world be for sale to China? Most people would say no without thinking twice. Right now, a lobbying fight is going on over exactly that question.
Congress is putting together this year's defense bill. One idea on the table is the AI OVERWATCH Act, a bipartisan bill that would limit sales of the most advanced AI chips to countries like China.
The Tech Lobby wants it left out. On September 3, five tech industry trade groups sent a letter asking Congress to "reject the addition" of AI OVERWATCH. Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise were among the people copied.
To be fair, these are trade associations, not named companies. They also say their members want to keep the most advanced American technology out of the hands of our adversaries. I'm glad to hear it. But they object to putting limits in law, and they complain that the limits would last "at least eighteen months," which they call "an eternity" in AI.
I see it the other way. Rules that run out every few months get argued over again and again. If the goal is to keep this technology away from an adversary, the protection should be built to last.
China is not a normal customer. The U.S. State Department describes China's "military-civil fusion" strategy as removing the barriers between China's civilian companies and its military. The same paper says the Chinese Communist Party believes the first country to apply AI to next generation warfare will achieve military dominance.
That is our own government talking, not me. If China's leaders see AI as the key to winning a war, then the chips that run AI are not just another product. A chip sold to a Chinese company can end up helping the Chinese military, and we would be taking that risk on purpose.
I'm a Marine from Marrero, Louisiana, and I get why companies want to sell what they make. But sales are one question and national security is another, and when they pull in different directions, security should win.
AI OVERWATCH is not in the defense bill yet, and nobody should assume it gets there on its own. The people lobbying against it certainly aren't assuming that.
So my ask is for limits that last, in the final defense bill. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana's 4th District, Majority Leader Steve Scalise of the 1st District, and Rep. Clay Higgins of the 3rd District, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, should make sure AI OVERWATCH is in it. Louisiana is counting on them.
Quin Bates
Marrero, Louisiana
