America Should Pass the GAIN AI Act to Restrict Chip Exports to China

After the United States won the Cold War, American politicians seemed to believe that the unipolar moment would last forever. They also believed that America’s victorious glow would radiate democracy to all countries, including the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Then-President Bill Clinton said as much in 2000: “The more China liberalizes its economy, the more fully it will liberate the potential of its people.” He further explained that the Chinese would “demand a greater say.”

This did not happen. In the ensuing decades, China has become both more dictatorial and more powerful, rising to challenge the United States for global supremacy in the new multipolar world. American companies, however, have been slow to realize this. Addicted to Chinese markets and profits, they wish to continue trading with China as if it were still the 1990s. These exports are often high-value products, such as computer chips, crucial for China’s economy.

Some elected officials have understood that the page needs to turn and that these wanton exports need to stop. One such official is Senator Jim Banks (R-IN), whose Guaranteeing Access and Innovation for National Artificial Intelligence Act (GAIN AI Act) seeks to ensure American companies have access to the latest and most advanced chips before they are exported to other countries, including America’s adversaries.

Read more in The National Interest