S. 321 — Decoupling America's Artificial Intelligence Capabilities from China Act of 2025

This section establishes definitions for terms used in the Act, including (1) "artificial intelligence" and "generative artificial intelligence," as defined in new 18 U.S.C. §2741 (added by section 3); (2) "artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence technology or intellectual property," meaning technology or intellectual property that could contribute to such capabilities; (3) "Chinese entity of concern," as defined in new 18 U.S.C. §2741 (added by section 4); (4) "interest" in an entity, including direct or indirect ownership or derivative instruments; (5) "military-civil fusion strategy," referring to the Chinese Communist Party's strategy to leverage civilian resources for military purposes; (6) "intellectual property," encompassing copyrights (under 17 U.S.C.), patents (under 35 U.S.C.), trademarks (under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1051 et seq.), and trade secrets (as defined in 18 U.S.C. §1839); (7) "technology," expanding on the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. §4801) to include AI-related hardware (e.g., semiconductors, graphics processing units) and software; and (8) other terms such as "export," "in-country transfer," "reexport," and "United States person" (the latter as defined in new 18 U.S.C. §2741, added by section 4).

This section prohibits, on and after 180 days after enactment, (1) the importation into the United States of artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence technology or intellectual property developed or produced in the People's Republic of China; and (2) the export, reexport, or in-country transfer of such technology or intellectual property to or within the People's Republic of China. This section applies to violations of these prohibitions the criminal penalties set forth in subsection (b) of section 1760 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (i.e., fines up to $1 million and imprisonment up to 20 years for willful violations, attempts, conspiracies, or aiding and abetting) and the civil penalties set forth in subsection (c) of that section (i.e., up to $300,000 per violation or twice the transaction value). This section directs the Secretary of Commerce to issue implementing regulations not later than 90 days after enactment.

This section adds a new chapter to part I of title 18, United States Code, titled "Research and development that benefits the People's Republic of China," and establishes definitions for terms used therein. The definitions include (1) artificial intelligence, incorporating the meaning in section 238(g) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 and expanding to various automated systems capable of human-like tasks; (2) entity of concern, meaning PRC educational and research institutions, PRC-organized or -headquartered corporations (or those primarily traded on PRC exchanges), and PRC government entities (including Hong Kong and Macau); (3) United States person, retaining the meaning in 22 U.S.C. 6010 (i.e., U.S. citizens, permanent resident aliens, and entities organized under U.S. laws) and additionally specifying corporations organized under federal, state, or territorial law and U.S. educational institutions; and (4) other terms such as research, development, federal financial assistance, and generative artificial intelligence.

This section prohibits United States persons, on and after one year after enactment, from knowingly holding or managing an interest in, or lending money or extending credit to, a Chinese entity of concern that (1) conducts research or development relating to artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence, or produces goods (including hardware and software) incorporating such research or development; and (2) assists in the implementation of the People's Republic of China's military-civil fusion strategy, assists in the development of surveillance capabilities, or is implicated in human rights abuses. The President may implement this prohibition using authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704)—i.e., to investigate, regulate, prohibit, or block transactions and property interests—and violators are subject to IEEPA civil and criminal penalties (50 U.S.C. 1705(b) and (c)).