Eleven senators wrote to Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Jan. 13 seeking to ban Chinese nationals from U.S. national labs, concerned that their access would undermine the United States’ position in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.
The Energy Department oversees 17 national laboratories and funds research to advance energy, environmental, nuclear, and other transformative science technologies. In November 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the department to implement Genesis Mission, coordinating a national effort to accelerate AI innovation “comparable in urgency and ambition to the Manhattan Project.”
The senators expressed concern about the thousands of Chinese nationals who have access to these national lab sites, information, and technology. In fiscal year 2024, about 3,200 Chinese nationals were approved for such access, and the lawmakers noted this figure does not include lawful permanent residents of the United States, “which means there are likely hundreds, perhaps thousands, more individual Chinese citizens working in our labs,” they wrote….
US Senators Want to Ban Chinese Scientists From Government Labs
