Top Democrat says chip restrictions are ‘key lever’ for US AI edge over China

Just two weeks before the US midterm elections, Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he did not believe America would maintain its lead over China in frontier AI indefinitely, describing restrictions on advanced chips as Washington’s key leverage.“I don’t believe for one second that we’re going to maintain a lead over Chinese frontier models forever. But we should for as long as we can,” said Himes at a Brookings event in Washington. “And the one real lever we have there, of course, is just slowing the dispersion of advanced chips into China.”Himes is a member of the “Gang of Eight”, a bipartisan group of congressional leaders briefed on classified national security matters. His comments come ahead of the midterm elections next month, with recent polls suggesting Democrats could regain control of Congress.