Senator Hassan Pushes Big Tech to Protect U.S. Technology from Russia & Other Adversaries

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) pushed Big Tech companies to fulfill their responsibility to prevent U.S. technology from ending up in the hands of adversaries, including Russia, during a Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing. Although certain advanced technologies are legally restricted from being exported to adversarial countries to protect our national security, these restrictions are often circumvented, and American components have been found in weapons used by Russia in Ukraine.

To watch Senator Hassan’s hearing questions, click here.

“Following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and our allies imposed strict export controls against Russia to prevent the Russian military from acquiring advanced U.S. technology – such as the semiconductors that are part of computer chips,” began Senator Hassan at the hearing. “I’ve been working with members of the Homeland Security Committee to improve the enforcement and effectiveness of export controls, and today’s hearing is an important step in that effort. Oversight by this subcommittee has found evidence that criminals are breaking U.S. export controls by shipping semiconductors to Eastern Europe, Central Asia, China, and the Persian Gulf – where they are then shipped to Russia for military use.”

Senator Hassan then pressed each of the executives from the major technology companies about whether they track country-specific data for both direct sales and distributors, asking, “At what point does each of your companies identify demand changes as abnormal or questionable, so you trigger increased due diligence by your compliance teams to ensure that the chips are not being shipped to restricted nations like Russia or China?”

Senator Hassan also pushed Jeff Rittener, Chief Trade Officer and Vice President at Intel, about steps that the company is taking to prevent adversaries like China from acquiring its advanced AI-capable chips.

Senator Hassan has helped lead efforts to strengthen the enforcement of sanctions against Russia. Earlier this year, Senator Hassan introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen export controls and also led a hearing in the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee with experts on what more the U.S. government can do to prevent sensitive technology from ending up in the hands of adversaries. Last year, the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee advanced Senator Hassan’s Vessel Tracking for Sanctions Evasion Act, which would crack down on ships disabling and spoofing their transponder equipment to evade export controls and international sanctions. Senator Hassan has also pressed the Department of Defense on its apparent purchase of sanctioned Russian oil, and in 2022, a bipartisan bill that Senator Hassan introduced to sanction the purchase of Russian gold as part of ongoing efforts to stand up to Putin was signed into law.

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