The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) has advanced the AI Overwatch Act during a full committee markup, moving forward a legislation aimed at tightening congressional oversight of advanced U.S. artificial intelligence chips exports.
According to the committee’s press release, the bill was first introduced in December 2025 by committee Chairman Brian Mast and requires the US government to review high-end AI chip exports with military applications, restrict access by adversary militaries, and encourage U.S. allies to rely primarily on American AI systems. The measure would also codify national security provisions contained in the Commerce Department’s recent H200 export control rule.
Brian Mast stated, “Companies like Nvidia are requesting to sell millions of advanced AI chips, which are the cutting edge of warfare, to Chinese military companies like Alibaba and Tencent. These are the same companies that work to spy against the United States of America, companies that the Chinese Communist Party uses to try and defeat the United States.”
The bill currently has 15 cosponsors. Original cosponsors include China Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford, and several Foreign Affairs subcommittee chairs covering Asia and Europe. The legislation has also drawn support from policy and advocacy groups including the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Action, American Compass, Americans for Responsible Innovation, the American Security Fund, and Exiger.
Supporters of the bill argue that advanced AI chips are dual-use technologies with applications in military command and control, surveillance, cyber operations, nuclear weapons development, and autonomous weapons systems. The legislation applies to existing congressional oversight principles that focus on emerging technologies that could alter military balances. The bill now awaits a debate, amendment and vote by the United States House of Representatives.