After DeepSeek Release, Senator Introduces Bill to Decouple US, Chinese AI

The law would ban the import from or export to China of AI technology. Violators could face up to 20 years in prison.

Screens displaying the logo of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company that develops open-source large language models, and the logo of OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, in Toulouse, France, on Jan. 29, 2025. Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images

A Republican senator has unveiled a sweeping bill aimed at protecting American artificial intelligence (AI) development and preventing it from advancing communist China’s AI capabilities.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) launched the “Decoupling America’s Artificial Intelligence Capabilities from China Act” in the Senate last week.