The US Treasury Department proposed a rule on Thursday, October 22, 2026, to crack down on American high-tech investments such as supercomputing and artificial intelligence in China, Russia, North Korea and other 'countries of concern,' the Associated Press reported.

Source: Associated Press via KXL

The United States government has worked for years to deny China and other adversaries investments that could help them boost their military power. The program began in 2023, when then-President Joe Biden signed an executive order restricting outbound US investment in semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence going into China, and Treasury later established the Outbound Investment Security Program, AP reported. In December 2025, Congress passed a law — the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security (COINS) Act — that codified and expanded the program to more technologies and more countries, including Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

What the proposal would cover

The proposed rule would expand the restrictions to investments in hypersonic systems — capable of travelling at five times the speed of sound — supercomputing, biotechnology and artificial intelligence, though Treasury used the administration's favoured term for AI, 'superintelligence' or SI, AP reported. Detailed coverage of the proposal says it also tightens bans on advanced chips, adding high-bandwidth memory and photonic chips, extends the quantum-computing prohibition, and adds biotechnology tools including brain-computer interfaces and hardware and software for automated scientific discovery.

Source: Unite.ai

The rule would apply to US citizens, green card holders, US companies and their foreign subsidiaries, and would cover private-equity stakes, convertible debt, joint ventures, new facilities abroad and some fund investments. Buying publicly traded shares, index funds and exchange-traded funds would be exempt, as would limited-partner stakes of $2 million or less, according to reporting on Treasury's fact sheet. Penalties would run up to the maximum under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and Treasury could require investors to sell covered holdings.

Christopher Pilkerton, Treasury's assistant secretary for investment security, said the rules address risks that arise 'when foreign adversaries try to benefit from U.S. investment in key technology sectors.' Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told AP the proposed rule 'sends an important signal to markets that Washington is tracking where U.S. capital is flowing and what capabilities it is helping build,' adding that screening outbound investment 'recognizes that capital can accelerate military-relevant capabilities just as surely as technology transfer can.'

AP noted that the inclusion of Russia in the proposed rule came days after President Donald Trump waived sanctions on Russia following a diesel deal with President Vladimir Putin. Nothing changes immediately: comments are open until December 7, 2026, through regulations.gov under docket TREAS-DO-2026-0595, the existing rules stay in force until a final rule sets an effective date, and the law gives Treasury until about mid-March 2027 to issue the final rule. Sources: Associated Press, October 22, 2026; Unite.ai, October 22-23, 2026; AI Weekly, October 23, 2026, reporting the AP story.