GOP Rift: Mast, Sacks Spar Over China Chip Sales Bill

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., is clashing with Nvidia and White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks over a bill that would give Congress a formal way to block certain advanced AI chip exports, as President Donald Trump's recent moves to allow limited high-end chip sales to China ignite a new fight inside the right over who controls the "AI arms race."

Mast's proposal, the AI OVERWATCH Act, would require export licenses for certain "covered integrated circuits" destined for "countries of concern," including China and Russia, and would add a pre-approval notification process to Congress modeled on the longstanding review of major foreign arms sales.

The measure has drawn sharp criticism online from prominent conservative voices, including activist Laura Loomer, who urged lawmakers to "kill the bill" and called it "pro-China sabotage disguised as oversight."

Loomer argued the bill "yanks control of advanced AI chip exports away from President Trump, who is aggressively blocking CCP access to these chips, and instead hands veto power to Congress."

Loomer added: "When the Democrats take back the House in 2026, Hakeem Jeffries @RepJeffries could greenlight sales of these chips to China or delay Trump's America First crackdown to help our adversaries."

Mast responded publicly, saying the critique "isn't a serious argument" and calling it "NVIDIA's lobbying talking points to sell chips to China."

Sacks weighed in by endorsing a post that accused the bill of seeking to limit Trump's authority over chip export policy.

Mast answered by pointing to Trump administration actions restricting certain chip exports and tools, while arguing for tighter guardrails on advanced chips headed to China. "You can advise him to sell H200 chips to China if you want, I advise the opposite," Mast wrote to Sacks. "That's your prerogative."

The dispute landed as the Trump administration formalized a shift allowing sales of Nvidia's H200 chips to China under new conditions through the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, including third-party review and limits tied to U.S. customer sales, according to the Associated Press.

The move has drawn criticism from China hawks and some lawmakers who warn it could accelerate Beijing's military and AI capabilities, while the administration and supporters argue that tighter licensing terms can protect security interests without ceding market share to Chinese competitors.

Trump's approach has also included a revenue-sharing structure.

Reuters reported in August that Trump said the U.S. would receive a 15% cut tied to licensed China sales of Nvidia's H200 chips, and later, Trump tied H200 approval to a 25% fee.

Several lawmakers have recently advanced proposals to tighten AI chip rules, including the GAIN AI Act from Sens. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., which passed the Senate in October but was later removed from the NDAA amid White House opposition, and the SAFE Chips Act from Sens. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Chris Coons, D-Del., introduced in December to extend existing export restrictions for more than two years.

Reuters contributed to this story.

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