Alexandra Alper

Alexandra Alper
Nationality	American
Occupation	Journalist
Employer	Reuters
Known for	Reporting on U.S. technology policy, export controls, and national security

Alexandra Alper is an American journalist covering U.S. technology policy, national security, and export controls for Reuters. She is based in Washington, D.C., where her reporting focuses on U.S.-China relations, artificial intelligence, semiconductor exports, and defense technology. She has broken exclusive stories on AI chip export restrictions, Pentagon use of AI tools, and the regulatory decisions of the U.S. Commerce Department, the Department of Defense, and the broader national security apparatus. Her work is regularly syndicated by major outlets including Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News, and other Reuters partners.

Career

Reuters

Alper works as a reporter for Reuters in Washington, D.C., focusing on U.S. government technology and trade policies, particularly those involving China. Her beat covers export controls on advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence policy, and defense technology procurement. These subjects have grown into central topics in both domestic policy debates and international relations throughout the 2020s.

U.S.-China Technology and Export Controls

Alper has been central to Reuters' coverage of U.S. efforts to restrict advanced technology flowing to China. Her reporting has examined how multiple administrations handled the competitive dynamics between Washington and Beijing in the technology sector.

In January 2021, Alper contributed to Reuters reporting on U.S.-China technology policy during the transition between the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations. The outlet reported on the evolving landscape of technology restrictions targeting Chinese companies and applications, a subject Alper continued to cover as policies shifted under new leadership. The Biden administration paused certain Trump-era actions, including the TikTok ban, which reshaped the policy landscape she covered in the years that followed.

In December 2025, Alper co-reported an exclusive revealing that the Trump administration had launched a review potentially allowing the first shipments to China of Nvidia's second-most advanced AI chips, the H200. The story detailed internal deliberations weighing commercial interests against national security concerns surrounding advanced semiconductor exports. By February 2026, she reported that none of Nvidia's H200 chips had yet reached China, citing a U.S. official, and that restrictions preventing high-performance semiconductor sales to Chinese entities remained in place.

That same month, Alper co-authored with Steve Holland an exclusive report finding that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek had trained its latest model on Nvidia's most advanced chip despite U.S. export bans, according to an official. The story raised direct questions about whether existing export control regimes were effective and whether Chinese firms could access restricted technology through other means.

Also in February 2026, Alper reported on a Chinese business that had hired a lobbyist with ties to Donald Trump Jr. and subsequently secured a favorable outcome from U.S. officials, a story that drew attention to the intersection of foreign business interests, political connections, and technology policy.

U.S. Technology Policy and Trade Diplomacy

Alper has also explored the broader diplomatic context surrounding technology restrictions. In February 2026, she contributed to an exclusive Reuters report revealing that the Trump administration had shelved key technology security measures aimed at Beijing ahead of an April meeting between the two countries' leaders, showing how trade diplomacy was influencing the pace and scope of technology restrictions. Democratic lawmakers quickly criticized the decision. Alper covered that response as well, reporting that they argued the administration was compromising national security for diplomatic gains.

In March 2026, Alper reported on new regulatory frameworks being debated by U.S. officials for exporting artificial intelligence chips. The proposed rules under consideration included requiring foreign firms to make U.S. investments as a condition for accessing advanced AI chips, showing how the administration was using export controls for broader economic and security objectives. Two months later, in May 2026, she contributed to Reuters reporting on U.S. lawmakers seeking to undercut Chinese AI and technology sales abroad, a legislative development that reflected the ongoing bipartisan pressure to limit China's access to advanced commercial technology.

Defense Technology and AI Procurement

Alper has reported extensively on the U.S. military's adoption of artificial intelligence tools and the political dynamics surrounding defense technology procurement. In March 2026, she reported that the Pentagon had told its senior leaders the use of Anthropic's AI tools might continue beyond a six-month ramp-down period, with certain exemptions possible according to an internal memo. The story showed how the Trump administration's directives regarding certain technology companies clashed with the Defense Department's operational reliance on their products.

She also covered the cascading effects of the Pentagon's order to remove Anthropic's AI tools from defense systems. In early March 2026, she detailed how U.S. defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, were expected to follow the directive and purge Anthropic's AI tools from their systems, making clear the practical consequences of government technology policy decisions on the defense industrial base.

In May 2026, Alper co-reported with Raphael Satter an exclusive finding that Grok, the AI assistant developed by Elon Musk's xAI, had performed poorly in Washington, D.C., undercutting the growth story surrounding SpaceX's AI ambitions in the capital. That same month, she co-reported with Erin Banco and Jonathan Landay an exclusive revealing that a Trump administration official had attempted to ban roughly half of all U.S. voting machines, citing unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, a story that drew significant attention given its implications for election infrastructure.

Reporting Approach

Alper's work at Reuters reflects a consistent focus on obtaining exclusive information from government officials and industry sources. Many of her stories carry the "Exclusive" label, which Reuters uses to mark original reporting based on non-public information. She relies on unnamed officials and sources with direct knowledge of policy deliberations, a standard practice in Washington national security journalism. Her stories often provide the first public disclosure of policy reviews, internal government deliberations, and enforcement actions related to technology controls.

Her reporting spans multiple agencies: the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, and the White House. That breadth reflects how cross-agency technology policy has become in the national security context, with AI chip exports, defense AI procurement, and U.S.-China technology competition now central to both domestic policy and international relations.

Recognition

Alper's exclusive reporting has been widely syndicated by Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News, and other outlets carrying Reuters content. The consistent placement of her reporting as headline news on these platforms reflects both the significance of her subjects and the newsworthiness of her sourcing.

The DeepSeek story generated particular attention. Her report with Holland revealed that the Chinese AI startup had trained its model on Nvidia's most advanced chip despite U.S. export bans, a finding that technology, policy, and financial media covered extensively given what it suggested about the effectiveness of U.S. export controls. Her reporting on the Trump administration's decision to pause China technology restrictions ahead of diplomatic meetings contributed to Congressional scrutiny and public debate about the administration's approach to technology competition with China.

Her coverage of the Pentagon's handling of Anthropic's AI tools drew attention from defense industry observers and technology policy analysts, highlighting the practical consequences of government decisions on integrating commercial AI products into military operations.