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The week Jensen Huang left, OpenAI backed three China chip-control bills, dropping its Nvidia caution to stand with Anthropic
First seen on X 2 days ago@RnaudBertrand ♥ 2,67416 views
OpenAI has told lawmakers it supports three bipartisan bills that would curb China's access to advanced AI chips and chipmaking equipment.
According to Bloomberg and Punchbowl News on Nov. 12, the bills are the Chip Security Act, the MATCH Act and the AI OVERWATCH Act. The Chip Security Act would require tracking of advanced chips and alerts when they are diverted to restricted users or regions. The MATCH Act would press allies such as the Netherlands and Japan to stop selling and servicing chipmaking tools for China. AI OVERWATCH would freeze the rules on which Nvidia chips can be sold to China for at least 18 months. Lawmakers want to attach all three to the must-pass year-end defense bill (NDAA). OpenAI global affairs chief Chris Lehane said stronger controls would give the U.S. and its allies time to build AI safety standards and oversight.
OpenAI called for limits on high-end chip sales to China last year, then stopped pushing Congress. ChainCatcher and others reported that OpenAI leaders worried public support would anger Huang and strain a partnership that supplies its GPUs and backs its data-center financing. Huang stepped down on Nov. 12 amid an extramarital-relationship scandal and national-security concerns. Anthropic has pushed for controls since 2025 and quit the ITI trade group in September after it urged Congress to drop these bills. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer voiced support this week, while the Trump administration is wary of upsetting a U.S.-China trade truce that expires Jan. 10.
On X, AI commentator Andrew Curran wrote that "the Houses of Altman and Amodei have forged an alliance, and they are striking during the enemy's moment of weakness" (1,383 likes). Journalist Lee Fang asked "what are the odds American AI firms are playing some role in the Huang ouster?" (2,313 likes). One analysis countered that Anthropic has campaigned openly for export controls for over a year and that the public record does not support a 'targeted takedown' theory.
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