Cornell Law professor Michael C. Dorf examines the legality of the Trump administration’s deals with Nvidia and AMD, which require the companies to pay 15% of AI chip sales made to China to the U.S. government, evaluating whether these payments constitute unconstitutional export taxes. Professor Dorf argues that although the payments function as export taxes—which are barred by the Constitution—the companies are unlikely to challenge them due to fears of political retaliation and economic consequences from the administration.
In light of recent news that the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon, Cornell Law professor Michael C. Dorf explains the differences between spying by ballon and spying by satellite and explores some of the murky legal areas with respect to sovereign airspace, outer space, and military uses of both. Professor Dorf points out that modern satellites can capture remarkably clear images of Earthbound sites, but a comparably equipped surveillance balloon, in virtue of being ten or more times closer to the Earth’s surface, can necessarily capture even greater detail.
