119-S321

Bill is currently in: Senate
Path to Law
House Senate President

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 321

1. Short title
2. Definitions
3. Prohibitions on import and export of artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence technology or intellectual property
4. Artificial intelligence research and development
5. Prohibition on United States persons holding an interest in or providing financing to Chinese entities involved in artificial intelligence research and development

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the "Decoupling America's Artificial Intelligence Capabilities from China Act of 2025".

2. Definitions

In this Act:

(1) Artificial intelligence; generative artificial intelligence - The terms artificial intelligence and generative artificial intelligence have the meanings given those terms in section 2741 of title 18, United States Code, as added by section 3.

(2) Artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence technology or intellectual property - The term artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence technology or intellectual property means technology or intellectual property that could be used to contribute to artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence capabilities.

(3) Chinese entity of concern - The term Chinese entity of concern has the meaning given the term in section 2741 of title 18, United States Code, as added by section 4.

(4) Interest - The term interest, with respect to an entity, includes an interest in the entity—

(A) - held directly or indirectly through any chain of ownership; or

(B) - held as a derivative financial instrument or other contractual arrangement with the entity, including any financial instrument or other contract that seeks to replicate any financial return with respect to the entity or an interest in the entity.

(5) Military-civil fusion strategy - The term military-civil fusion strategy means the strategy of the Chinese Communist Party aiming to mobilize non-military resources and expertise for military application, including the development of technology, improvements in logistics, and other uses by the People’s Liberation Army.

(6) Intellectual property - The term intellectual property means—

(A) - any work protected by a copyright under title 17, United States Code;

(B) - any property protected by a patent granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office under title 35, United States Code;

(C) - any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, that is registered as a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office under the Act entitled "An Act to provide for the registration and protection of trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain international conventions, and for other purposes", approved July 5, 1946 (commonly known as the "Lanham Act" or the "Trademark Act of 1946") (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.); or

(D) - a trade secret (as defined in section 1839 of title 18, United States Code).

(7) Technology - The term technology—

(A) - has the meaning given that term in section 1742 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801); and

(B) - includes—

(i) - any semiconductor, circuit board, operating system, graphics processing unit, central processing unit, tenor processing unit, field-programmable gate array, random access memory, hard drive, solid-state drive, dataflow architecture, or cloud-computing service, that is manufactured, designed, developed, supplied, deployed, completed, assembled, restored, converted, or replicated to function artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence; and

(ii) - any other hardware, software, equipment, device, component, robotic, computer, processor, network, machine, accelerator, circuit, storage, system or subsystem, server, or related good, tool, or service, that is manufactured, designed, developed, supplied, deployed, completed, assembled, restored, converted, or replicated to function artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence.

(8) Terms from Export Control Reform Act of 2018 - The terms export, in-country transfer, and reexport have the meanings given those terms in section 1742 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801).

(9) United States person - The term United States person has the meaning given the term in section 2741 of title 18, United States Code, as added by section 4.

3. Prohibitions on import and export of artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence technology or intellectual property

(a) Prohibition on importation - On and after the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the importation into the United States of artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence technology or intellectual property developed or produced in the People's Republic of China is prohibited.

(b) Prohibition on export - On and after the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the export, reexport, or in-country transfer of artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence technology or intellectual property to or within the People's Republic of China is prohibited.

(c) Penalties

(1) Criminal - A person who willfully commits, willfully attempts to commit, or willfully conspires to commit, or aids and abets in the commission of, the violation of a prohibition under subsection (a) or (b) shall be subject to the criminal penalties set forth in subsection (b) of section 1760 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4819) to the same extent as a person who willfully commits, willfully attempts to commit, or willfully conspires to commit, or aids and abets in the commission of an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section.

(2) Civil - A person who violates a prohibition under subsection (a) or (b) or any regulation, order, or license issued to carry out any such prohibition shall be subject to a civil penalty set forth in section 1760(c) of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4819(c)) for each such violation to the same extent as a person who commits a violation described in that section.

(d) Regulations - Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall issue regulations implementing this section.

4. Artificial intelligence research and development

(a) In general - Part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

(b) Citizenship and immigration consequences - Section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)) is amended—

(1) - in subparagraph (T), by striking "; and" at the end;

(2) - by redesignating subparagraph (U) as subparagraph (V); and

(3) - by inserting after subparagraph (T) the following:

(U) - an offense described in section 2742 of title 18, United States Code (relating to research and development on behalf of the People's Republic of China); and

(c) Clerical amendment - The table of sections for part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

(d) Regulations - The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Education, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, shall—

(1) - promulgate regulations to enforce the prohibitions under section 2742 of title 18, United States Code, as added by this Act; and

(2) - coordinate with the heads of other Federal agencies to ensure the enforcement of the prohibitions described in paragraph (1).

5. Prohibition on United States persons holding an interest in or providing financing to Chinese entities involved in artificial intelligence research and development

(a) In general - On and after the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, a United States person is prohibited from knowingly holding or managing an interest in, or lending money or extending credit to, a Chinese entity of concern that—

(1)

(A) - conducts research or development relating to artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence; or

(B) - produces goods, including hardware and software, that incorporate research or development relating to artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence; and

(2)

(A) - assists in the implementation of the military-civil fusion strategy of the People's Republic of China;

(B) - assists in the development of surveillance capabilities; or

(C) - is implicated in human rights abuses.

(b) Implementation; penalties

(1) Implementation - The President may exercise the authorities provided to the President under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to the extent necessary to carry out this section.

(2) Penalties - A person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out this section shall be subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section.