[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 84 (Monday, May 19, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S2960]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              SAUDI ARABIA

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on the Saudi chip deal, today, I am 
joining with Senator Warren to lead Senate Democrats in calling on 
Secretaries Lutnick and Rubio to hit pause on a number of chip deals 
Donald Trump announced last week with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. I am 
alarmed that these deals announced by Donald Trump, which involve the 
most advanced AI-related semiconductors, have ``national security 
threat'' written all over them. Without clear and enforceable 
protections, I am worried that these chips will gradually end up in the 
hands of the Chinese Government and the Chinese Communist Party, given 
how cozy the Saudis and Emiratis have been with the Chinese.
  Recent history shows that when foreign countries end up with 
American-made chips, the Chinese Government, the CCP, and their related 
companies get ahold of these chips. DeepSeek's AI model was precisely 
accomplished with U.S.-made chips. Now Donald Trump wants to 
potentially open up another loophole with his Middle East chip deals.
  Over the years, Chinese companies and the CCP have forged deep ties 
with the same Middle Eastern countries that Donald Trump is now giving 
unfettered access to our most advanced AI chips. No serious national 
security expert would tell you this is on the level. It not only 
threatens our security but also risks cannibalizing the U.S. build-out 
of AI. If we want to stay No. 1 in AI, which we all do, this is the 
wrong deal.
  Why is Donald Trump building the future of AI in the Middle East, not 
in America? We all know that he is desperate--Trump is desperate--to 
show the world he is ``Mr. Art of the Deal.'' But he is so desperate to 
tout these deals that he is not thinking and protecting the long-term 
security and job implications to our country. With this deal, American 
AI chips are being given to the highest bidder at the expense of the 
American people and American dominance in the rapidly growing and 
important field of AI.

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