A bipartisan US-China AI bill would create a $500 million fund to help allied governments buy American artificial intelligence and digital technology instead of Chinese systems, Reuters reported.
The legislation is sponsored by Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, according to a copy of the bill seen by Reuters.
The proposal would establish an office inside the US State Department to subsidise foreign government purchases of American technology and simplify procurement.
The measure seeks to support President Donald Trump’s Pax Silica initiative, which aims to reduce dependence on China and strengthen allied access to critical minerals and other inputs for artificial intelligence supply chains.
The bill says foreign government partners increasingly buy low-cost cyber and digital technologies from strategic competitors such as China. It warns that such purchases can create supply-chain risks and expose data, networks and systems.
The bill would cover American AI models, chips, software, hardware, telecoms equipment, cybersecurity products, biotechnology and cloud computing systems. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The move comes as China expands its Belt and Road Initiative, launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013. Research by Griffith University and the Green Finance & Development Center in Shanghai said China invested a record $213 billion in the programme last year.
