U.S. President Donald Trump (L) listens as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks within the Cross Hall of the White House throughout an occasion on “Investing in America” on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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President Donald Trump on Monday stated that he initially asked Nvidia for a 20% minimize of the chipmaker’s gross sales to China, however the quantity got here down to fifteen% after CEO Jensen Huang negotiated with him.
The feedback got here after information broke over the weekend that Nvidia agreed to pay the federal authorities a 15% minimize in return for receiving export management licenses that can permit it to as soon as once more promote the H20 chip to China and Chinese corporations. Nvidia’s Huang visited Trump within the White House on Friday.
“I said, ‘listen, I want 20% if I’m going to approve this for you, for the country,'” Trump stated at a information convention in Washington.
Trump stated that Nvidia’s H20 is an “old chip that China already has” and is “obsolete.” He in contrast the H20 chip to Nvidia’s present quickest synthetic intelligence chip, which is named Blackwell, and stated that he would not permit these to be bought to China with out important downgrades, reminiscent of a 30% to 50% discount in efficiency.
“The Blackwell is super-duper advanced. I wouldn’t make a deal with that,” Trump stated, including that it was attainable to make a deal 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 motive for the U.S. export controls is concern that offering superior chips to China may permit the international energy to leapfrog the U.S. in AI capabilities. Many have stated that would pose a menace to the nationwide safety of the U.S.
Trump stated that China already has chips with some comparable capabilities to the H20.
Huang has stated that it’s higher for U.S. nationwide safety if Chinese AI builders use U.S. expertise, and that denying them entry to Nvidia chips would really encourage the Chinese chip business to develop and catch up.
“He’s selling a essentially old chip,” Trump stated. “Huawei has a similar chip.”
The H20 is a Chinese-specific chip that has had its efficiency slowed down. It is said to Nvidia’s H100 and H200 chips which can be used within the U.S. The H20 was launched after the Biden administration carried out export controls on AI chips in 2023.
In April, the Trump administration stated it could require a license to export the H20 chip, and in May, Huang stated that “effectively closed” the market off to Nvidia. Huang stated that Nvidia was anticipating to promote about $8 billion in H20 chips within the July quarter earlier than gross sales had been stopped.
“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 advised CNBC on Monday.
Trump on Monday additionally stated that Huang plans to go to 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 House official confirmed to CNBC that Advanced Micro Devices, the second-place AI chipmaker, can even pay 15% to obtain an export license for its China-focused AI chip, the Instinct MI308.
