Trump signals potential discussion with Xi on Nvidia’s Blackwell chip

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Gyeongju, South Korea, Trump praised Nvidia’s flagship Blackwell chip as “super-duper” and indicated it could be a point of discussion with Xi, though he did not provide further details. “I think we may be talking about that with President Xi,” Trump said, describing himself as “very optimistic” about the meeting.

The potential discussion comes amid long-standing tensions over the sale of high-end US AI chips to China, which accounted for roughly 13% of Nvidia’s revenue in the previous fiscal year, according to Reuters. Washington has restricted exports of advanced chips, citing concerns that China’s military could leverage the technology to enhance its capabilities.

The policy around Nvidia chip sales has been inconsistent. Earlier this year, the U.S. government blocked the H20 chip, designed specifically for the Chinese market. Nvidia subsequently developed a less powerful version based on the Blackwell architecture. Washington later lifted the ban as part of broader negotiations on rare earths exports. In August, Trump indicated that Nvidia could resume H20 sales to China in exchange for a 15% US government share of certain advanced chip sales in the country.

Despite the revenue-sharing agreement, Nvidia has not shipped any H20 chips to China. US export rules for collecting the payment remain unresolved, and Beijing has discouraged domestic firms from purchasing Nvidia products. 

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, expected to meet Trump on Wednesday, told reporters that his company had not applied for licenses to export its latest chips to China due to the Chinese position. 

“They've made it very clear that they don't want Nvidia to be there right now,” Huang said during the company's developers' event, according to Reuters.

China, in response to US export controls, has encouraged domestic firms to purchase and further develop local chip technology.