Trump Softens Nvidia Chip Stance After Mar-a-Lago Event

Speculation surrounds a shift in the Trump administration’s stance on Nvidia’s H20 chip, potentially influenced by a high-profile Mar-a-Lago dinner attended by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

Initially, industry experts anticipated strict export controls on the H20, Nvidia’s most advanced AI chip legally available for sale to China. China represents a critical market for Nvidia.

However, sources indicate that the White House has put these plans on hold following the dinner. This reversal came after Nvidia reportedly pledged new investments in U.S. AI data centers.

This decision arrives amidst increasing pressure from lawmakers for stricter curbs on AI-related technologies. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley had previously advocated for export controls on the H20 after a Chinese company, DeepSeek, unveiled an impressive AI chatbot powered by it.

Experts like Chris Miller from Tufts University believe this is a significant win for China. Even though the H20 is modified to reduce performance for legal export, it still surpasses many domestically produced Chinese chips.

Since 2022, the U.S. has restricted Nvidia’s chip sales to China due to concerns about AI and military applications. The H20 was developed under these restrictions.

The H20 chip is highly sought after for its ability to support AI model inference, benefiting companies like DeepSeek, Meta, and OpenAI. Chinese firms reportedly stockpiled $16 billion worth of H20 chips in anticipation of U.S. export controls.

Delays in implementing these controls have been attributed to staffing shortages within the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the Commerce Department office responsible for export control enforcement. BIS has faced federal cuts and restructuring under the Trump administration.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi has voiced concerns about easing restrictions on Nvidia’s advanced chips, stating that “Every day America fails to restrict the export of chips designed to circumvent existing controls is a day that our adversaries have to build up stockpiles to defeat us.”

Keywords: Nvidia, H20 chip, China, export controls, Trump administration, AI, Mar-a-Lago, semiconductors, technology.

• Nvidia: A leading technology company specializing in GPUs and AI.
• H20 Chip: Nvidia’s most advanced AI chip legally exportable to China.
• Export Controls: Regulations restricting the sale of technology to specific countries.