Donald Trump likely to allow Nvidia sell a scaled-down version of its AI chips in China

U.S. President Donald Trump might possibly allow Nvidia to sell a scaled-down version of its next-generation advanced GPU chip in China. Tis comes amid deep-seated fears in Washington that China could harness U.S. artificial intelligence capabilities to supercharge its military.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Trump said he was open to striking a deal with the chipmaker to sell a scaled-down version of its Blackwell processor. He explained that this could mean cutting down its capabilities by 30 to 50 per cent.

The move, according to critics, could open the door to China securing more advanced computing power from the U.S. even as the two countries battled for technology supremacy.

The comments came as Trump hinted at an upcoming meeting with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to discuss the matter further.

The Blackwell design is currently the most advanced in Nvidia’s AI chip portfolio and is widely used for building and running powerful AI models. However, it falls under the category of high-end processors that the US government has barred from being shipped to China.

The US government's restrictions are aimed at preventing the Asian country from gaining access to technology that could be used in advanced AI systems with potential military or surveillance applications.

Trump’s remarks came on the heels of a separate arrangement that his administration has already finalised with Nvidia in which the company will be able to sell its H20 AI chip — a less advanced model compared to Blackwell — to China.

In exchange, Nvidia will hand over 15 per cent of the revenue from those sales to the US government. A similar arrangement has also been extended to rival chipmaker AMD for its MI308 processors.