White House Pushes Back on GAIN AI Act
Summary
As Congress is working on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (NDAA; S. 2296) throughout September, White House AI and crypto advisor David Sacks is urging Senate Republicans to drop the GAIN AI Act from the chamber’s version of the NDAA. The measure, led by Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN), would require chipmakers to give U.S. customers priority access to advanced semiconductors before selling abroad. The text is included in Chair Roger Wicker’s (R-MS) manager's amendment (page 80). The Trump administration has expressed concern that the plan would undermine its strategy to flood global markets and conflict with recent chip sale deals with China. Separate post on X, Sacks warned that China is rapidly reducing its reliance on U.S. chips and urged Washington to ease export controls so American firms can sell more broadly, especially to allies, or risk losing the AI race to Huawei and China.
