India, April 2 -- A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has introduced a legislation to cut China's access to specialised tools required to produce AI chips, amid Beijing's calls for "self-reliance" in the technology.

The Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware (MATCH) Act, led by Representative Michael Baumgartner (R-Wash.), seeks to tighten export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment. If enacted, the bill would expand the categories of banned machinery and restrict the sale of associated services to China's leading chipmakers.

The legislative push arrives as Beijing accelerates its efforts to build a self-sufficient silicon supply chain. Chinese imports of semiconductor machinery surged from $10.7 billion i...