Latest news with #JohnMoolenaar
Politico
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Politico
5 questions for Rep. John Moolenaar
With help from Aaron Mak Hello, and welcome to this week's installment of the Future in Five Questions. This week we interviewed Rep. John Moolenaar, the chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. That post puts the Michigan Republican at the center of some of the thorniest geopolitical issues, including winning the technological arms race with China. Moolenaar talks to us about artificial intelligence and his ideas for an 'America First AI Policy' that would keep the U.S. ahead, block China from accessing U.S. technology and expand international partnerships with appropriate guardrails. An edited and condensed version of the conversation follows: What's one underrated big idea in tech? AI can be used as a weapon. From helping cyber criminals to building autonomous systems to injecting Chinese Communist Party propaganda directly to the U.S. public, AI has immense power — and we need to treat it that way. And that starts with securing the chips that power it. And I co-sponsored The Chip Security Act, which is a bipartisan bill that would require location tracking for advanced American chips and mandate reporting if they're diverted or misused. Right now, American chips are being smuggled into China and used to train AI models that serve the CCP's military and surveillance state. And we can't allow that. When you think about it, in the Cold War we tracked nuclear material, and today we should be tracking advanced chips, because they're just as strategically important. That is a simple idea, but it could determine whether American innovation is used to protect freedom or to power authoritarian control. What's a technology that you think is overhyped? I think the idea that high-end compute is the only path to AI is overhyped, and the Chinese model DeepSeek proves it. Even though there are restrictions on advanced chips, the CCP found a workaround, and they built an AI system that censors, surveils and pushes propaganda using stolen AI models and likely smuggled chips. Our committee detailed all of this in our DeepSeek report, and what it shows is that the CCP is adapting fast, and they're not just chasing high-end hardware — they're trying to indigenize the entire tech stack: [Graphics processing units], cloud computing and the tools to manufacture chips themselves. So we need to think better, not just about cutting off chip exports, but about securing the entire ecosystem. The race is not just about who has the most powerful hardware, but it's about who controls the platform and protects the values built into it. What could the government be doing regarding technology that it isn't? We need to treat AI like the strategic asset it is, not just another tech trend. And I joined alongside ranking member [Rep. Raja] Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) in a bipartisan letter urging the Commerce Department to act — and act fast. We need clear standards for AI safety and transparency before these models are deployed, especially in critical sectors like defense, infrastructure and finance. That means safety testing, transparency requirements for new models and strong oversight of training data, so we don't end up with CCP-style systems like DeepSeek, which are hardwired for propaganda and control. We also need to build more capacity at home: More fabs, more data centers and more secure supply chains, and close the export loopholes. The CCP is trying to indigenize the full tech stack. If we don't control the whole program, we're giving them the tools to bypass our restrictions. With our values, we need to lead globally — and our allies need to adopt similar guardrails — so that we can prevent Beijing from their techno-authoritarianism. We still have the edge, but if we want to keep it, we have to act like we intend to win. What book most shaped your conception of the future? Recently, I read 'The Peacemaker' by William Inboden, and it shaped how I think about American leadership in the dangerous world that we have today. It was about Ronald Reagan and about how he faced Soviet aggression, nuclear brinksmanship and economic instability, but he stood firm with moral clarity, military strength and a deep belief in America and our values. It didn't happen overnight. When you think of the Soviets launching Sputnik, America didn't back down. We stepped up and invested in science, defense and education. And that wave of innovation allowed Reagan's strategy to dominate technologically — and our strong military defense — but we also won the war of ideas. That's the advantage that free societies grounded in faith and truth have over these authoritarian regimes. I believe the future is going to be shaped by those who lead in AI, semiconductors and quantum, but even more so by those who defend the values beneath them. And Reagan showed how to lead with strength and with faith and we need to work with other like-minded nations to work together to defeat this authoritarianism — and some of these partnerships that are emerging with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. What has surprised you the most this year? What has shocked me the most when it comes to the work we're doing with our select committee is how much of our American-made technology — our investor dollars and even our taxpayer dollars — are benefiting the Chinese military and surveillance state, and despite our sanctions, our export controls and national security warnings, the CCP is still building AI-enabled weapons using our chips, our money, our cloud services, even our research. We need to get much more serious about our enforcement, and that's precisely why we need an America irst AI policy to ensure America always retains a majority of global compute and leads the free world in this effort. Trump's tough talk on semiconductors The White House's plan to extract more investments from semiconductor manufacturers might actually be working — though the strategy may have its limits. On Thursday, chip fabricator Micron said it would invest an additional $30 billion to expand its Virginia plant, and construct a new facility in Idaho. This comes as President Donald Trump's Department of Commerce renegotiates manufacturing grants that the Biden administration had agreed to furnish under the 2022 CHIPS Act. Micron received $6 billion in CHIPS funding last year, and will now get an additional $275 million, as well as a 'white glove' service to loosen and expedite permitting. In May, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the administration would demand that companies ramp up their investments if they wanted to receive the CHIPs grants they'd been promised. Trump has also claimed he's been able induce extra investments by threatening companies with tariffs in renegotiations: He said in April that he raised the prospect of imposing 100 percent tariffs on the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, leading it to pitch in another $100 billion. (TSMC declined to comment on Trump's version of events when DFD asked earlier this week. Micron said it could not comment on whether tariffs were part of its renegotiations due to it being the quiet period before reporting quarterly results.) As Trump notches wins in his pressure campaign, Chris Miller, the Tufts University historian who wrote the widely influential book 'Chip War,' told DFD earlier this week that aggressive tactics can only take the White House so far. 'Companies are not going to do more than is economically rational,' he said. 'That will be a limiting factor in terms of what kinds of renegotiations we end up seeing.' It seems like Trump hasn't hit that limit quite yet. Deepfakes come for the LA protests The Los Angeles protests are reigniting the argument about misinformation during moments of tumult, especially since AI may be making the problem worse. As with other recent upheavals, like the George Floyd protests or Jan. 6, 2021, riot, misleading photos and videos taken out of context are circulating online — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)reposted a clip of a burning car that was actually from 2020. AI is now complicating the situation even further. For example, a fake AI-generated video of a National Guardsman talking about 'gassing' protestors gained hundreds of thousands of views this week. POLITICO's California Decoded team reported on Friday that at least three Democratic state lawmakers are monitoring the situation, which they say emphasizes the need for AI legislation. 'The AI-generated images are inflaming the situation,' state Sen. Josh Becker told Decoded, who added that the California AI Transparency Act will eventually be sufficient to counteract such deepfakes. The law requires watermarks to signal that a certain piece of media was AI-generated. The act was passed last year, but won't go into effect until January. However, the First Amendment has stifled AI content laws in the past. A federal judge in October blocked California from enforcing a ban on deceptive AI content. While watermarks may seem less extreme than a ban, they may still raise free speech issues. post of the day THE FUTURE IN 5 LINKS Stay in touch with the whole team: Aaron Mak (amak@ Mohar Chatterjee (mchatterjee@ Steve Heuser (sheuser@ Nate Robson (nrobson@ and Daniella Cheslow (dcheslow@
Fox News
12-06-2025
- Business
- Fox News
House bipartisan bill directs NSA to create 'AI security playbook' amid Chinese tech race
FIRST ON FOX – Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ind., is introducing a new bill Thursday imploring the National Security Administration (NSA) to develop an "AI security playbook" to stay ahead of threats from China and other foreign adversaries. The bill, dubbed the "Advanced AI Security Readiness Act," directs the NSA's Artificial Intelligence Security Center to develop an "AI Security Playbook to address vulnerabilities, threat detection, cyber and physical security strategies, and contingency plans for highly sensitive AI systems." It is co-sponsored by House Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., Ranking Member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J. LaHood, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee and the House Select Committee on China, told Fox News Digital that the legislative proposal, if passed, would be the first time Congress codifies a "multi-prong approach to ensure that the U.S. remains ahead in the advanced technology race against the CCP." He said the bill will improve export control mechanisms – including for chips and high capacity chip manufacturing – protect covered AI technologies with a focus on cybersecurity, and limit outbound investment to firms directly tied to the Chinese Community Party or China's People's Liberation Army. "We start with the premise that China has a plan to replace the United States. And I don't say that to scare people or my constituents, but they have a plan to replace the United States, and they're working on it every single day. And that entails stealing data and infiltrating our systems," LaHood told Fox News Digital. "AI is the next frontier on that. We lead the world in technology. We lead the world when it comes to AI. But what this bill will do will again make sure that things are done the right way and the correct way, and that we're protecting our assets and promoting the current technology that we have in our country." LaHood pointed to evidence uncovered by the committee that he said shows the CCP's DeepSeek used illegal distillation techniques to steal insights from U.S. AI models to accelerate their own technology development. He also pointed to how China allegedly smuggled AI chips through Singapore intermediaries to circumvent U.S. export controls on the technology. "As we look at, 'How do we win the strategic competition?' I think most experts would say we're ahead in AI right now against China, but not by much. It is a short lead," LaHood told Fox News Digital. He said he is confident the bill will put the U.S. "in the best position to protect our assets here and make sure that we're not shipping things that shouldn't go to AI that allow them to win the AI race in China." "Whoever wins this race in the future, it's going to be critical to future warfare capabilities, to, obviously, cybersecurity," LaHood continued. "And then, whoever wins the AI competition is going to yield really unwavering economic influence in the future. And so we're aggressive in this bill in terms of targeting those areas where we need to protect our AI and our companies here in the United States, both on the commercial side and on the government side, to put us in the best position possible." The legislative proposal calls on the NSA to develop a playbook that identifies vulnerabilities in AI data centers and developers producing sensitive AI technologies with an emphasis on unique "threat vectors" that do not typically arise, or are less severe, in the context of conventional information technology systems." The bill says the NSA must develop "core insights" in how advanced AI systems are being trained to identify potential interferences and must develop strategies to "detect, prevent and respond to cyber threats by threat actors targeting covered AI technologies." The bill calls on the NSA to "identify levels of security, if any, that would require substantial involvement" by the U.S. government "in the development or oversight of highly advanced AI systems." It cites a "hypothetical initiative to build covered AI technology systems in a highly secure government environment" with certain protocols in place, such as personnel vetting and security clearance processes, to mitigate "insider threats." Though not directly related, the legislation is being introduced a week after FBI Director Kash Patel sounded the alarm on how the CCP continues to deploy operatives and researchers to "infiltrate" U.S. institutions. Patel laid out the risk in announcing that two Chinese nationals were charged with smuggling a potential bioweapon into the U.S. LaHood said that case further highlights "the level of penetration and sophistication that the CCP will engage in," but he added that his bill focuses on putting a "protective layer" on U.S. AI tech and "restricting outbound investment to China." He pointed to how the CCP also has bought up farmland around strategic U.S. national security locations, particularly in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. "If everything was an even playing field, and we were all abiding by the same rules and standards and ethical guidelines, I have no doubt the U.S. would win [the AI race], but China has a tendency and a history of playing by a different set of rules and standards," LaHood said. "They cheat, they steal, they take our intellectual property. Not just my opinion, that's been factually laid out, you know, in many different instances. And that's the reason why we need to have a bill like this." The bill comes as the Trump administration has been pushing to bolster artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States, and major tech companies, including Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, OpenAI, Oracle and others, have made major investments in constructing AI-focused data centers and enhancing U.S. cloud computing. Last week, Amazon announced a $20 billion investment in constructing AI data centers in rural Pennsylvania. It followed a similar $10 billion investment in North Carolina. In late May, the NSA's Artificial Intelligence Security Center released "joint guidance" on the "risks and best practices in AI data security." The recommendations include implementing methods to secure the data used in AI-based systems, "such as employing digital signatures to authenticate trusted revisions, tracking data provenance, and leveraging trusted infrastructure." The center said its guidance is "critically relevant for organizations – especially system owners and administrators within the Department of Defense, National Security Systems, and the Defense Industrial Base – that already use AI systems in their day-to-day operations and those that are seeking to integrate AI into their infrastructure."
Epoch Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
House CCP Committee Chairman Inquires With Canadian Firm About Supply of Critical Metal
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) has sent a letter to Canada-based mining company Almonty Industries to inquire about a critical metal essential for U.S. defense technology that the United States relies on China to obtain. Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Marco Rubio: Rubio exposes CCP, alleges China 'siphoning' US innovation to develop Chinese military - The Economic Times Video
During a recent House Appropriations Committee hearing, Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed concerns raised by Rep. John Moolenaar regarding China's acquisition of American technology for military development. Rubio acknowledged the issue, emphasising the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) strategic efforts to obtain US innovations through both legal and illicit means.
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
US lawmaker question top US universities over Chinese nationals in sensitive STEM research
Chairman John Moolenaar of the House Select Committee on China has sent a letter to the leaders of Carnegie Mellon, Purdue University, Stanford University, the University of Illinois, the University of Maryland, and the University of Southern California, asking for details about their policies and practices related to the enrollment of Chinese national students in advanced STEM programs and their engagement in federally funded research, as reported by the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (SCCCP). The letter underscores the growing dangers associated with China's deliberate attempts to leverage American universities for technological and military gains. Intelligence officials have indicated that American campuses are vulnerable targets for espionage and intellectual property theft; however, prestigious universities continue to enroll significant numbers of Chinese nationals in crucial research programs, prioritising financial gain over the long-term national security and education of American students in vital fields, as stated in the SCCCP release. Also Read: Turbulence ahead: Elon Musk exits from DOGE, but now trouble awaits him at Tesla, SpaceX, and X "The Chinese Communist Party has established a well-documented, systematic pipeline to embed researchers in leading US institutions, providing them direct exposure to sensitive technologies with dual-use military applications," said Chairman Moolenaar. Live Events "America's student visa system has become a Trojan horse for Beijing, providing unrestricted access to our top research institutions and posing a direct threat to our national security. If left unaddressed, this trend will continue to displace American talent, compromise research integrity, and fuel China's technological ambitions at our expense," as quoted by the SCCCP release. "The United States is at a dangerous crossroads where the pursuit of short-term financial gains by academic institutions jeopardises long-term global technological leadership and national security. Our nation's universities, long regarded as the global standard for excellence and innovation, are increasingly used as conduits for foreign adversaries to illegally gain access to critical research and advanced technology. Nonetheless, too many US universities continue to prioritise financial incentives over the education of American students, domestic workforce development and national security," he said. Also read: TACO Trump: Jimmy Kimmel brutally trolls President on his show, asks 'How does it feel?' "They do so by admitting large numbers of Chinese nationals into advanced STEM programs, potentially at the expense of qualified Americans. Accordingly, we write to request information regarding your university's policies and oversight mechanisms concerning the enrollment of Chinese national undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students, their involvement in federally funded research, and the security of sensitive technologies developed on campus," the release said. The House Select Committee on the CCP will persist in examining how US educational institutions might be aiding the CCP's worldwide objectives and will seek policy measures to protect American technological supremacy, the announcement stated. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
