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“The H20 is obsolete,” Trump said.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.
