US President Donald Trump has said that he will permit “authorized clients” in China to purchase Nvidia’s cutting-edge H200 processors.
On social media on Monday, Trump declared, “We will preserve National Security, generate American Jobs, and retain America’s lead in AI.”
Following intensive lobbying by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who traveled to Washington last week to rally support, the ruling will apply to other US chip makers including AMD.
In recent months, the US and China have engaged in a geopolitical tug-of-war, and Nvidia, the most valuable and top chip company in the world, has been prohibited from selling its most cutting-edge processors to Beijing.
In July, Trump lifted the restriction on exporting chips, but he insisted that Nvidia provide the US government 15% of its Chinese earnings. According to reports, Beijing then gave its IT businesses instructions to cease purchasing Nvidia processors made for the Chinese market.
Nvidia said BBC News, “We commend President Trump’s decision to enable America’s chip sector to compete to support high paying jobs and manufacturing in America.” The Blackwell chip, regarded as the most sophisticated AI semiconductor in the world, is a generation behind Nvidia’s H200.
In September, Mr. Huang stated to the BBC that the United States needs “to make sure that individuals can use this technology from all around the world, including China.”
Additionally, he has frequently cautioned that China, which has developed its own ecosystem for producing chips, is lagging behind the United States in this regard. On Monday, Nvidia praised Trump’s announcement.
“Offering H200 to certified business clients, evaluated by the Department of Commerce, strikes a smart balance that is fantastic for America,” Nvidia said in a statement.
The announcement caused the company’s shares to marginally increase. In his post, Trump stated that the United States of America will get ā¬25% [sic].”
National security hawks in Congress are expected to oppose the agreement, which the BBC has contacted the White House to clarify.
According to Alex Capri of the National University of Singapore, the sale of H200 chips to select Chinese clients “buys time” for the US to reach an agreement with Beijing about rare earths and avoid significant disruptions to global supply chains.
When it comes to processing rare earth materials, which are necessary for making the majority of electronics, China has a monopoly.
According to Mr. Capri, Beijing is still anticipated to strive toward lessening reliance on the US, even though access to H200 processors is probably going to help China’s technological industry.
He pointed out that Beijing had earlier urged local IT companies to purchase semiconductors made domestically and ordered them to reject Nvidia’s older H20 processors.
China’s People’s Liberation Army is utilizing cutting-edge semiconductors made by US corporations to build AI-enabled military capabilities, according to researchers at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET).
Cole McFaul, senior research analyst at CSET, stated, “You allow China to more readily employ and deploy AI systems for military purposes by making it simpler for the Chinese to get these high-quality AI processors.” “They aim to use cutting-edge chips to get an advantage in the battlefield.”
