Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are looking to restrict the United States' Artificial Intelligence (AI) exports. 

These Republicans, according to Fox News, are making this move due to concerns about intellectual property theft by China.

This is not a new issue, but it is one that Republicans are hoping to make more progress on, now that they control both the upper and lower chambers of Congress.

Among those leading the charges is House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN).

Here's what is going on:

Something that brought this situation back into the spotlight is the recent development regarding China's DeepSeek AI software.

Fox News reports:

DeepSeek’s release of the new high-profile AI Model that costs less to run than existing models like those of Meta and OpenAI sent a chill through U.S. markets. Its popularity in U.S. app stores has also renewed concerns about Chinese companies collecting American data, as well as the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) censorship practices. The surprise DeepSeek release also displayed how China's economic competitiveness has far outpaced the ability of U.S. business leaders and lawmakers to agree on what to do about it.

There is even more to the story, however. The U.S. Commerce Department, in fact, is actually investigating the situation in order to determine whether or not DeepSeek actually used computer chips that had been banned from entering China.

If it did, then the big question is how China got these chips. We'll see what the investigation finds.

In the meantime, Green is looking to get some legislation on the books to help the situation.

The proposal

This past week, Green introduced a bill looking to "shield sensitive technology from the Chinese Communist Party's grasp."

Green put out a statement explaining the point of his legislation.

He said:

TikTok, RedNote, and DeepSeek R1 are extensions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Their algorithms censor critiques of the party and its leaders and promote anti-U.S. messaging. On top of this, these apps share a massive amount of metadata with the CCP. From keystrokes and contact lists to locations, there is no telling what our adversary can do with this intimate knowledge of Americans. That is why I am introducing the China Technology Transfer Control Act.

Green goes on to say that his "bill would prohibit U.S. companies from sharing sensitive technology with China, including technology that could be used to commit human rights abuses, level cyber attacks on the U.S., or help China commit acts of espionage."

It would also do several other things. You can read the bill in its entirety here.