Moolenaar: U.S. Winning the AI Race Against Weak Chinese Chip Sector

Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar has sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick regarding Nvidia H200 artificial intelligence chips. In the letter, Moolenaar underscored that China remains far behind the United States in the AI race, particularly when measured by aggregate computing power. Huawei still lags significantly behind U.S. capabilities.

“What Huawei has been less willing to acknowledge is that available evidence suggest that its flagship chip was not made in China, but in Taiwan and South Korea…The Department of Commerce has taken commendable action to crack down on this blatant violation of export controls by holding TSMC accountable for at the nearly three million chips produced for a Huawei shell company. In the aftermath of that action, China will now be forced to rely on domestic production of the 910C. It is far from clear that China could achieve this production at scale, or even at all,” wrote Moolenaar.

“Export controls that President Trump put in place have been highly effective in securing the U.S. lead and forcing China into increasingly desperate illicit procurement. Approving the sale of cutting-edge chips to Chinese companies risks undercutting the extraordinary strategic advantage that President Trump achieved in his first term. In the President’s second term, realizing the full potential of President Trump’s AI Action Plan and AI executive orders depends on preserving and expanding that advantage,” concludes Moolenaar.

The Select Committee has requested a briefing from the Department of Commerce on the analysis underlying the H200 decision and will continue rigorous oversight to ensure U.S. AI and Chip policy advances American interests and protects against CCP exploitation.

Read the letter here.