NDAA Unlikely to Have Chip Export Restrictions, Lawmaker Says
A proposal to require U.S. manufacturers of advanced AI chips to make their products available to American firms before selling them to China is unlikely to make it into the final FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but it could advance later as stand-alone legislation, a key lawmaker said Dec. 2.
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The chip measure, named the Guaranteeing Access and Innovation for National Artificial Intelligence Act, or Gain AI Act, was included in the Senate-passed version of the NDAA, but it's “pretty much dead” as far as the House-Senate NDAA compromise goes, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., said. The Gain AI Act, which Mast supports (see 2511210047), has faced stiff opposition from the semiconductor industry, which sees it as overly complex and unnecessary.
But Mast said he believes some variant of the Gain AI Act could still become law. One possibility under consideration is to create a Foreign Military Sales-like process in which the leaders of committees with jurisdiction over chip exports would sign off on transactions.
“It has to be addressed,” Mast said in a hallway interview at the Capitol. “I don’t see it riding on the NDAA at this point, just because there’s more technical assistance that’s going to come out of the administration, more industry input and more opinion from the House and the Senate.”
Mast said lawmakers continue to negotiate on whether the final NDAA will include a proposal to restrict U.S. outbound investment in China. He declined to predict the outcome. “We’re in conversation.”
The outbound measure, called the Foreign Investment Guardrails to Help Thwart China Act, or Fight China Act, was included in the Senate NDAA but not the House version (see 2510230038).
Mast said negotiators are close to reconciling the competing House and Senate proposals to reauthorize the State Department. “We’re largely there, but the reality is nothing’s over till it’s over.” Among the proposals lawmakers have put forth is a House measure to combine State's sanctions activities into a new Sanctions Policy Bureau led by an assistant secretary for sanctions policy (see 2509230037).