Us To Allow Powerful Ai Chip Sales To China, Trump Says

President Donald Trump said Monday that he authorized Nvidia to sell its powerful H200 artificial-intelligence chip in China in exchange for taking 25 percent of the revenue — a major win for the U.S. chipmaker that caps weeks of internal deliberations.

“I have informed President Xi [Jinping], of China, that the United States will allow NVIDIA to ship its H200 products to approved customers in China, and other Countries, under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He added that Xi "responded positively."

Clearing the H200 for sale in China gives Nvidia and its CEO, Jensen Huang, a major boost after Huang visited Capitol Hill and personally met with Trump.

A spokesperson for Nvidia confirmed the deal in a statement, calling it "a thoughtful balance that is great for America."

The policy action follows weeks of internal debate over how far to relax chip restrictions, and whether chip sales to China would advance American interests or represent a security risk. A White House official described the move to POLITICO as a “compromise position” that falls short of Nvidia’s effort to secure approval to sell more advanced chips. They were granted anonymity to speak candidly about considerations that have not been made public.

Lawmakers have raised concerns that lifting curbs on the export of the chips will give Beijing a technological edge at U.S. expense, and Democrats are already pouncing on the move.

“This risks turbocharging China’s bid for technological and military dominance and undermining U.S. economic and national security,” Senate Banking ranking member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a statement. She called on Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to rein in the administration and said lawmakers should require Huang to testify publicly on the issue under oath.

The move also provoked unease among Washington technology and defense policy experts, who warned it may jeopardize America's lead in the emerging area.

Chris McGuire, a China expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan thinktank, called the decision a "big, self-inflicted wound" that could ultimately lose the U.S. its leadership on AI, depending on how many H200 chips the U.S. sells to China and how quickly that turns into access to other, more advanced chips. McGuire served on the National Security Council under President Joe Biden and at the State Department under Trump, focusing on technology and China in both roles.

Trump’s post added that Nvidia’s top-end Blackwell and forthcoming Rubin chips aren’t included, reflecting the administration’s decision to keep its most advanced AI hardware restricted

“My Administration will always put America FIRST. The Department of Commerce is finalizing the details, and the same approach will apply to AMD, Intel, and other GREAT American Companies," Trump wrote.

Huang has built a close relationship with Trump since the 2024 election, and has used it to warn that strict export limits only bolster Chinese rivals like Huawei.

One wild card for the policy: Will Nvidia find any Chinese buyers for those chips? Beijing has previously raised security concerns over other Nvidia semiconductors.

“China firms want H200s, but the Chinese state is driven by paranoia and pride — paranoia about backdoors and dependence on U.S. chips, and pride in pushing domestic alternatives,” said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

The Institute for Progress think tank estimates that the H200 chip delivers nearly six times the performance of the H20 chip. The Trump administration earlier this year sparked backlash after it struck a deal with Nvidia to allow export of the latter to China.