The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs minority released a statement from Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren and published written responses from Lieutenant General Joshua Rudd, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, in which he agreed that China is aggressively seeking advanced American artificial intelligence chips to accelerate the development of AI-enhanced weapons. Rudd described advanced AI chips as foundational to achieving AI superiority and integral to modern military applications, and said that delays of weeks or months in accessing the latest chips would impair Department of Defense innovation and lethality. He added that prioritising China’s market over supplying US firms, national labs and startups could impair military procurement, although he was not aware of this occurring, and argued that robust competition in the technology sector supports cyber acquisitions by driving innovation in defensive tools and rapid advancement. Warren framed the release as part of broader efforts to tighten export controls, citing prior requests for stronger controls including fortifying the AI diffusion rule and restricting H20-class chips, the bipartisan GAIN AI Act introduced in November 2025 to prioritise US buyers of advanced AI chips before exports to China and other countries of concern, and oversight actions under the Export Control Reform Act seeking information related to decisions allowing exports of Nvidia H200 chips to China.

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