Warren Calls for AI Safety, Microchip Export Controls Ahead of President Xi State Visit

Thank you, Leader Schuettmer. Thank you to my colleagues for being here and leading this fight with us. Look, we're all getting phone calls, emails, DMs, because Americans across the country are worried about the impact of artificial intelligence on the economy and on their own personal safety and the safety of their families. But House Speaker Mike Johnson proclaimed that Congress should not lead AI safety efforts, and he sent his members home, evidently not seeing a problem. Leader Thune said regulation should be light touch. That is the wrong approach. First, the United States needs to address the very real risks created by increasingly powerful AI systems. And these decisions need to be made by the American people through their representatives in government, not by a handful of AI CEOs and giant companies. It is clear that now is the moment for action to put serious rules and serious constraints into place. Second, we need to make sure that China isn't getting access to our advanced technology to create ever more dangerous AI systems. And we certainly should not be letting tech billionaires like Nvidia's Jensen Wang negotiate away our export controls or decide our AI policy to benefit his own personal bottom line. Mr. Wang should be nowhere near the negotiating table during President Xi's visit. Congress has been working on bipartisan proposals to prevent the most sensitive American technology from reaching China. We have three pieces of legislation. The first one, don't send this technology to China. It's called the AI overwatch. The second one, don't send the equipment to make these chips to China. It's called the Match Act. And the third, whenever chips leave the United States to go to some third country, make sure that they have a tracker in them so you always know where they are and where they're being used. That's called the Chip Security Act. These three are bipartisan proposals. They have widespread support among both Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate. Congress could act on them right now if the Republican leadership would show any courage. Leaders Thune and Johnson should put these bills on the floor. Instead of inviting big tech CEOs to dinner with President Xi, President Trump should support these bipartisan bills to prevent our chips from going to China. And Congress needs to step up and regulate AI. The time to act was yesterday.