U.S. bipartisan lawmakers propose bill to ban federal government from using Chinese light-making modules

As soon as the Trump-Xi meeting ended on the 25th, cross-party members of Congress in the United States proposed a bill to prohibit the federal government from using Chinese-made optical modules in sensitive government systems to transmit data from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. The bill has intensified the pressure faced by China's two largest optical module manufacturers, Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink.

"Reuters" reported that optical modules allow data to be transmitted at the speed of light through fiber optic cables and are the core of the deployment of AI infrastructure in the United States. Some data centers even require millions of such devices. Supporters of the bill say Beijing could use the devices to interfere with U.S. access to AI tools and cloud infrastructure.

This bill was co-sponsored by Republican Senators John Cornyn and Dave McCormick and Democratic Senators John Fetterman and Ruben Gallego. If the bill is passed, the U.S. federal government will have five years to complete the replacement process, and the secretaries of commerce and defense will also be authorized to add more Chinese companies to the restricted list.

McCoy issued a statement stating: "We should not rely on China for technologies related to national security." Cornyn emphasized that critical government communications and information systems must be "secure, reliable, and free from any foreign interference," and Chinese technology could undermine this goal.

This bill was proposed after the "Trump-Xi meeting" ended, during which US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping touched on the issue of AI competition and cooperation. The U.S. executive branch has engaged in diplomatic contact with China, while Congress has enacted legislation to contain China's supply chain, highlighting Washington's dual-track strategy towards China's science and technology policy.

Zhongji InnoLight has previously been blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Defense as a company with ties to the Chinese military. Xinyi Sheng and the Chinese Embassy in the United States declined to comment.

However, the U.S. technology industry has expressed doubts about the restrictive measures. The Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) sent a letter to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in August this year, calling for the blacklisting of optical modules, warning that supply disruptions could slow down the deployment of data centers and weaken the U.S.'s leading position in the AI ​​field.