A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill during a congressional hearing today that would prevent Federal agencies from buying or using artificial intelligence models created by companies with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and other foreign adversaries.
Introduced by House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chair John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the No Adversarial AI Act would bar agencies from using AI from companies like DeepSeek – a CCP-linked AI firm – unless they first get approval from Congress and the Office of Management and Budget.
“We are in a new Cold War – and AI is the strategic technology at the center,” said Rep. Moolenaar in a release. “The CCP doesn’t innovate – it steals, scales, and subverts. From IP theft and chip smuggling to embedding AI in surveillance and military platforms, the Chinese Communist Party is racing to weaponize this technology.”
The legislation also would mandate the Federal Acquisition Security Council to regularly track and update a database on AI developed by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
“The U.S. government should not be sending our data to China – full stop,” said Rep. Krishnamoorthi during opening statements at today’s hearing. “But as AI continues to get more powerful, the risks only grow greater.”
“China is making an all-out push to dominate AGI [artificial general intelligence], which will inevitably seek the surveillance to oppress us at every turn. We cannot let this happen – the nightmare scenario should be a wake-up call for Congress,” added the ranking member.
In addition to the bill introduced today, Rep. Krishnamoorthi announced an upcoming bill from his office dubbed the “AGI Safety Act” which he said would require AGI to “be aligned with human values” and “comply with laws that apply to humans.”
AGI is AI that can think, learn, and solve problems as well as a human can across any task, and do so without direction.
The legislation-related announcements landed during a committee hearing where witnesses stressed to lawmakers the need to safeguard domestic energy sources to support growing power demand from the AI sector.
“We need energy here, and we need compute here, because as this technology becomes more sensitive, we want to develop the most powerful systems here under the full U.S. security umbrella,” Jack Clark, co-founder and head of policy at Anthropic, said about U.S. efforts toward artificial superintelligence (ASI) – which unlike AGI could surpass the smartest human minds.
“The first country to reach ASI will likely emerge as a superpower of the 21st Century, the superpower will set the rules for the rest of the world,” said Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., in an exchange with Clark.
“When it comes to energy, China’s outbuilding the United States by ratio of eight to one,” added Rep. Torres.
Witness Mark Beall, Jr., president of government affairs at The AI Policy Network, told lawmakers that the AI race against China has multiple levels – including commercial dominance, military and economic prowess, and then a human rights race as capabilities develop toward ASI.
“This isn’t your typical race between two competing nations, this is humanity against time,” warned Beall. “If any nation today develops ASI, a particularly hostile nation like the PRC [People’s Republic of China], it might not be hyperbole to say we could be facing a crisis.”
“We must develop an AI strategy, a comprehensive strategy to ensure that we can usher in a golden age of innovation and prosperity for our people, while also combating these risks head on,” added Beall.