U.S. allowed and helped firms sell tech used for China's surveillance state

"U.S. lawmakers have tried four times since September last year to close what they called a glaring loophole: China is getting around export bans on the sale of powerful American AI chips by renting them through U.S. cloud services instead. But the proposals prompted a flurry of activity from more than 100 lobbyists from tech companies and their trade associations trying to weigh in, according to disclosure reports. The result: All four times, the proposal failed, including just last month."

"the sale of U.S. technology to China remains among the thorniest issues the U.S. faces, with billions of dollars and the future of tech dominance at stake. But the tough talk about China obscures a deeper story: Even while warning about national security and human rights abuse, the U.S. government across five Republican and Democratic administrations has repeatedly allowed and even actively helped American firms to sell technology to Chinese police, government agencies, and surveillance companies, an Associated Press investigation has found."

U.S. lawmakers attempted four times since September to close a loophole that lets China circumvent export bans by renting U.S. AI chips through cloud services. More than 100 tech lobbyists and trade associations engaged heavily to influence the proposals. All four proposals failed. After a meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, U.S. technology sales to China remain a central, contentious issue with significant economic and technological dominance implications. U.S. governments across five administrations repeatedly allowed and sometimes enabled American firms to sell technology to Chinese police, government agencies, and surveillance companies. Congress repeatedly ignored loopholes enabling workarounds such as cloud rentals, third-party resellers, and sanctions gaps.

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