By Jeffrey A. Newman Esq.
Today, the House of Representatives passed the Remote Access Security Act, a bipartisan bill that modernizes the Export Control Reform Act by expanding federal authority to restrict foreign adversariesā ability to access technologies, including AI chips, remotely through cloud computing services.
āThe CCPās AI ambitions are being fueled by its access to American chips housed in data centers located outside of China,ā said Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, a cosponsor of the legislation. āThis bill brings our laws into the digital age and makes it clear that cloud compute is subject to U.S. export control law, just like physical chips. Closing these loopholes will strengthen U.S. national security and protect American innovation.ā
The Remote Access Security Act, which was led by Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY), directly addresses this threat by clarifying that export controls can be applied equally to remote access, provision of access, and cloud-based exposure of controlled items. The reason the United States limited sales of Nvidiaās most advanced AI chips to China and other adversaries to slow their military modernization, restrict their ability to build cuttingāedge AI systems, and preserve a U.S. lead in strategic computing power. Policymakers see highāend GPUs as āchokepointā technologies that can turbocharge everything from advanced weapons and surveillance to cyber operations if Beijing gets unrestricted access
ļ»æThe Select Committee has repeatedly warned that CCP-aligned entities use cloud services and remote computing to evade U.S. restrictions on advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and other sensitive technologies.
In November of last year, multiple reports emerged claiming that Chinese companies were finding ways to access Nvidia’s latest Blackwell chips by exploiting a cloud computing loophole. According to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal, INF Tech, a Shanghai-based startup, had allegedly gained access to 2,300 banned Nvidia AI GPUs by renting a server in Indonesia. The 32 Nvidia GB200 servers were rented from an Indonesian telecommunications company in a deal thought to be worth $100 million. Perhaps more concerning for U.S. lawmakers, the GPUs were allegedly bought after the company had secured the Chinese outfit as a customer.
Advanced GPUs like Nvidiaās A100, H100 and successors are essential for training large AI models used in autonomous weapons, intelligence analysis, targeting, logistics optimization, and warāgaming. Denying or slowing Chinaās access is meant to impede the Peopleās Liberation Armyās ability to field AIāenhanced military systems as quickly or at comparable scale. The 2022ā2023 export rules explicitly targeted Chinese entities involved in highātech surveillance, including systems used in Xinjiang and for broad domestic monitoring. Large clusters of advanced Nvidia chips dramatically improve facial recognition, populationāscale data mining, and realātime tracking, which Washington views as enabling internal repression and transnational authoritarian influence. U.S. officials stress that in China there is no real separation between commercial AI and the stateās security apparatus, because of Beijingās āmilitaryācivil fusionā doctrine. Even if Nvidia chips are sold to ostensibly private firms or universities, the concern is that capabilities, data, and hardware can be quickly shared with the PLA and security services. Nvidiaās dataācenter GPUs (A100, H100, H200, and related parts) are the de facto standard for training large language models and other advanced AI systems worldwide. U.S. agencies view these chips as uniquely powerful because their combination of raw compute, highābandwidth memory, and fast interconnects enables the massive clusters needed for topātier models.
Advanced GPUs enable rapid development of AIāenhanced weapons, including autonomous drones, swarming systems, and decision-support for command and control, which could erode U.S. battlefield advantages. Adversaries with sufficient chips can train models for targeting, logistics optimization, and warāgaming at a scale that challenges U.S. conventional and nuclear deterrence planning. AI chips support highāfidelity modeling for nuclear, missile, and other WMD programs, potentially shortening development timelines or enabling more sophisticated delivery and defenseāevading systems. This raises the risk of rapid arms racing dynamics where multiple states use AIāaccelerated simulations to iterate military capabilities faster than traditional verification and diplomacy can respond. Highāend compute is a force multiplier for offensive cyber operations, allowing adversaries to automate vulnerability discovery, malware generation, and largeāscale phishing or social engineering campaigns. AIāassisted cyber tools can be tailored to U.S. critical infrastructureāenergy grids, healthcare, financial systemsāmaking it easier to disrupt services or steal sensitive data .
Jeffrey Newman is a whistleblower lawyer whose law firm represents whistleblowers revealing violations of export controls, tariff evasions, money laundering, healthcare fraud and other kinds of WB cases. The firm represents individuals both in the United States and other countries. Mr. Newman and his firm staff also represent physicians and other healthcare providers who become whistleblowers in healthcare fraud cases. Whistleblower laws in the U.S. allow individuals anywhere with information about export control violations or tariff fraud to reveal the information under The False Claims act or through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Whistleblower Program. The Firm’s website is Ā at www.JeffNewmanLaw.comĀ and attorney Newman can be reached at Jeff@Jeffnewmanlaw.com or at 978-880-4758
