Trump signals possible sale of scaled-down Nvidia Blackwell AI chips to China
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Monday (Aug 11) he may allow Nvidia to sell a reduced-performance version of its next-generation Blackwell artificial intelligence chip to China, despite longstanding concerns in Washington over Beijing’s access to advanced US computing power.
The move could allow China to secure more powerful AI capabilities even as the US and China compete for dominance in high-tech sectors.
“Jensen (Huang, Nvidia CEO) also has the new chip, the Blackwell. A somewhat enhanced-in-a-negative-way Blackwell. In other words, take 30% to 50% off of it,” Trump told reporters, suggesting the chip’s computing power could be curtailed.
“I think he’s coming to see me again about that, but that will be an unenhanced version of the big one,” he added.
REVENUE-SHARING DEAL WITH US GOVERNMENT
Earlier, the Trump administration confirmed an unprecedented deal under which Nvidia and AMD will give the US government 15 per cent of revenue from some AI chip sales to China.
Trump defended the agreement, saying it followed the administration’s decision last month to allow exports of Nvidia’s less advanced H20 AI chips to China.
“The H20 is obsolete,” Trump said. “So I said, ‘Listen, I want 20% if I’m going to approve this for you, for the country.’”
A US official said the Commerce Department has begun issuing licences for H20 chip sales and did not believe the exports compromised national security.
SECURITY AND COMPETITION CONCERNS
Critics, however, warned that even downgraded AI chips could help Beijing rapidly scale its computing capabilities.
“Even with scaled-down versions of flagship Nvidia (chips), China could spend and buy enough of them to build world-leading, frontier-scale AI supercomputers,” said Saif Khan, former director of Technology and National Security at the White House National Security Council under former president Joe Biden.
Nvidia said it follows US government rules for global markets. “While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide,” a company spokesperson said.
AMD said the US had approved some exports of its AI processors to China and that the company complies with all export controls.
CHINA RESPONDS
China’s foreign ministry has previously accused Washington of using technology and trade measures to “maliciously contain and suppress China”.
Beijing has consistently opposed US restrictions on chip exports, saying they are politically motivated and designed to stifle Chinese technological development.
