US Lawmakers of Both Parties Collaborate on Legislation to Counter China's AI Expansion with $500 Million

According to Reuters, New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Nebraska Republican Senator Pete Ricketts will jointly introduce a bipartisan bill on May 19th local time, targeting China's AI tools and the overseas sales of technological products.

The core mechanism of the bill is to establish a special office within the Department of State responsible for subsidizing and streamlining the procurement of American technology by allied governments, with a simultaneous establishment of a special fund of $500 million to provide financial support. The scope of coverage includes AI models, chips, related software and hardware, telecommunications equipment, cybersecurity products, biotechnology, and cloud computing systems, among others.

The bill's text directly cites the legislative motivation: due to low prices, foreign government partners are increasingly turning to strategic competitors such as China to purchase cyber and digital technology, resulting in supply chain vulnerabilities—where the governments of these competitors may forcibly gain access to data, networks, or systems, undermining the cybersecurity and strategic autonomy of the purchasing parties.

This legislation aims to complement the Trump administration's "Pax Silica" plan, whose core objective is to reduce reliance on China and strengthen cooperation among allies in critical minerals and key segments of the AI supply chain. At the same time, according to research from Griffith University in Australia and the Shanghai Green Finance and Development Center, China last year invested a record $213 billion in the "Belt and Road" initiative, further strengthening its technological influence in developing countries.