United States Senators Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley have urged the Trump Administration to address export control issues revealed by a recent technological development known as DeepSeek. The senators wrote to Commerce Secretary Nominee-Designate Howard Lutnick, emphasizing the need to strengthen export controls and close regulatory loopholes that could undermine U.S. technology leadership, particularly in relation to challenges from China.
The letter highlighted specific measures for Mr. Lutnick, should he be confirmed, including fortifying the AI diffusion rule, restricting certain chips like H20 and equivalents, curbing chip smuggling, and adding Changxin Memory Technology (CXMT) to the Entity List.
Senators Warren and Hawley stated that "DeepSeek is an export control failure," pointing out that DeepSeek acquired restricted advanced AI chips due to corporate lobbying influencing the Commerce Department's actions. This situation allowed Chinese companies such as DeepSeek to gather numerous restricted chips.
Mr. Lutnick has indicated his commitment to being "very strong" on technology controls, rejecting half-measures or lax enforcement. The senators urged immediate action from him and President Trump to devise a strategy safeguarding national security while promoting critical industries within the United States without yielding to corporate lobbyists' interests.
They also called for a review of how DeepSeek obtained advanced U.S. AI chips despite existing export controls and recommended closing any identified loopholes.