Remote Access Bill Passes House
Summary
In September 2024, the House passed a package of legislation focused on addressing Congressional national security and foreign policy concerns related to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The effort, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, included the Remote Access Security Act (H.R. 8152), which provides authority to regulate the remote access to technology subject to U.S. jurisdiction – such as the remote access through a cloud service provider to the compute power of U.S.-controlled semiconductors. U.S. law currently provides the authority for the government to regulate the export of such semiconductors and other technology, but not the remote access to such items by foreign entities. A stated objective of the Act is to prevent access to the computing resources of service providers powered by advanced U.S. chips by PRC customers, which can be used to develop AI large language models with potential capabilities of concern -- such the modernization of the PRC’s military. Similar legislation has also been introduced in the Senate.
