U.S. President Donald Trump (L) listens as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks within the Go Corridor of the White Space all the way through an match on “Investing in America” on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Photographs
President Donald Trump on Monday stated that he to start with requested Nvidia for a 20% scale down of the chipmaker’s gross sales to China, however the quantity got here ill to fifteen% next CEO Jensen Huang negotiated with him.
The feedback got here next information needy over the weekend that Nvidia yes to pay the government a fifteen% scale down in go back for receiving export keep an eye on licenses that can permit it to as soon as once more promote the H20 chip to China and Chinese language firms. Nvidia’s Huang visited Trump within the White Space on Friday.
“I said, ‘listen, I want 20% if I’m going to approve this for you, for the country,'” Trump stated in a press convention in Washington.
Trump stated that Nvidia’s H20 is an “old chip that China already has” and is “obsolete.” He when compared the H20 chip to Nvidia’s tide quickest synthetic insigt chip, which is named Blackwell, and stated that he wouldn’t permit the ones to be offered to China with out vital downgrades, corresponding to a 30% to 50% aid in efficiency.
“The Blackwell is super-duper advanced. I wouldn’t make a deal with that,” Trump stated, including that it used to be imaginable to assemble a do business in for a “somewhat enhanced in a negative way” model of Blackwell.
“That’s the latest and the greatest in the world. Nobody has it. They won’t have it for five years,” Trump stated.
One reason why for the U.S. export controls is worry that offering complicated chips to China may just permit the overseas energy to leapfrog the U.S. in AI functions. Many have stated that might pose a blackmail to the nationwide safety of the U.S.
Trump stated that China already has chips with some indistinguishable functions to the H20.
Huang has stated that it’s higher for U.S. nationwide safety if Chinese language AI builders usefulness U.S. era, and that denying them get right of entry to to Nvidia chips would if truth be told inspire the Chinese language chip trade to build and catch up.
“He’s selling a essentially old chip,” Trump stated. “Huawei has a similar chip.”
The H20 is a Chinese language-specific chip that has had its efficiency bogged down. It’s matching to Nvidia’s H100 and H200 chips which are impaired within the U.S. The H20 used to be presented next the Biden management carried out export controls on AI chips in 2023.
In April, the Trump management stated it could require a license to export the H20 chip, and in Might, Huang stated that “effectively closed” the marketplace off to Nvidia. Huang stated that Nvidia used to be anticipating to promote about $8 billion in H20 chips within the July quarter ahead of gross sales had been blocked.
“While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide,” an Nvidia spokesperson informed CNBC on Monday.
Trump on Monday additionally stated that Huang plans to consult with him once more to barter export licenses for the Blackwell chips.
“I think he’s coming to see me again about that,” Trump stated.
A White Space reliable showed to CNBC that AMD, the second-place AI chip maker, may also pay 15% to obtain an export license for its China-focused AI chip, the Intuition MI308.
WATCH: Nvidia, AMD to pay U.S. 15% of AI chip gross sales in China to conserve export licenses
