Schumer Presses Senate Vote on AI Chip Export Bills Before Trump Meets Xi in Washington

Senate Democrats want to tie Donald Trump's hands on AI chips before he sits down with Xi Jinping. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is pressing Majority Leader John Thune to hold floor votes on three chip export bills ahead of the Washington summit, Politico reports.

"The Senate could pass all three bills today and protect our national security and keep U.S. AI tech out of China's hands," Schumer told reporters. He was joined by Elizabeth Warren, Andy Kim, and Elissa Slotkin.

Three bills, one message

The bills are the AI OVERWATCH Act, the MATCH Act, and the Chip Security Act. They are part of more than a dozen China chip-export measures pushed over the past year.

Schumer framed the fight bluntly. "Trump is handing China the technology it needs to win the AI race," he said. Warren sent Trump a letter on Tuesday warning him not to let Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang negotiate away export controls.

The clock is the real opponent

A standalone vote looks unlikely. The Senate is in its last legislative week before the midterms, and Thune controls the floor.

The more realistic path is the National Defense Authorization Act. All three bills are in the Senate manager's amendment package for the $1.15 trillion defense bill, which Democrats blocked in July over the Iran war. In the House, companion bills cleared committee earlier this year, and Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast is pushing to fold them into the same package.

Nothing has passed, and no export ban is in force. Beijing is already pushing back on US hardware, from Broadcom switches in state data centers to the broader trade truce. What Trump and Xi agree on chips, if anything, is still unknown.