CHIPS Security Act Draws Support From Six Companies for AI Chip Tracking
Industry backing for mandatory location tracking of advanced AI chips signals a potential alignment between national security goals and commercial interests, though the bill's full legislative...
At least six companies have publicly declared support for the CHIPS Security Act, a bill that would require manufacturers to embed location-tracking mechanisms in the United States' most advanced computing chips, according to a report published by NBC News on June 18, 2026. The legislation would mandate physical or digital tracking capabilities on high-performance AI chips, a category of semiconductors that has become central to both commercial AI development and national security competition. NBC News did not identify the six companies by name in its initial report; the specific firms and the nature of their endorsements would be confirmed through the bill's official congressional record and any registered lobbying disclosures filed with the Senate Office of Public Records or the House Clerk under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
The CHIPS Security Act has not yet been assigned a public bill number in available congressional records as of the date of this report. The legislation would represent an expansion of federal authority over semiconductor supply chains, building on the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-167), which appropriated approximately $52.7 billion for domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research, according to the Congressional Budget Office's cost estimate at the time of passage. Whether the new bill has been referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology or the Senate Commerce Committee is not confirmed in available public records.
Proponents of chip location tracking have argued that the measure would allow the federal government to detect unauthorized exports of advanced semiconductors to adversarial nations, a concern that has driven multiple rounds of export controls by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, including restrictions issued in October 2023 and updated in October 2024. Critics have raised questions about the technical feasibility of continuous location tracking, potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities introduced by tracking hardware, and privacy implications for commercial customers. No formal Congressional Budget Office score for the CHIPS Security Act has been publicly released as of June 18, 2026.
What remains unknown includes the full list of supporting companies, the bill's sponsor and co-sponsors, the precise tracking standard the legislation would require, and whether the Defense Department or the Commerce Department would serve as the administering agency. The bill text, once introduced, would be available through Congress.gov. Lobbying disclosures from supporting companies detailing their positions and contact with congressional offices would be filed with the Senate Office of Public Records and searchable through the LDA database at lda.senate.gov.