Trump Restricts Nvidia's Advanced Blackwell AI Chips From Foreign Markets

Nvidia GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip.

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that Nvidia's cutting-edge Blackwell chip for artificial intelligence would not be made available to "other countries."

As the world's most valuable company, Nvidia currently holds a dominant position in the AI chip market.

Since August, speculation has been mounting about whether Trump would permit exports of a Blackwell variant to China, especially after he previously suggested the possibility of allowing sales of a reduced-capability version of Nvidia's next-generation advanced GPU chip to the Chinese market.

However, Trump's latest statements to reporters while aboard Air Force One indicate his administration may be reluctant to grant widespread international access to this highly sought-after technology.

"The new Blackwell that just came out, it's 10 years ahead of every other chip," Trump remarked during his flight back to Washington following a weekend in Florida. "But no, we don't give that chip to other people," he emphasized.

The prospect of selling Blackwell chips to Chinese companies has faced strong opposition from China hawks in Washington, who worry the technology could significantly enhance China's military capabilities and accelerate its artificial intelligence development.

Republican Congressman John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, compared such a move to "giving Iran weapons-grade uranium."

Prior to meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping at their summit in South Korea last week, Trump had suggested he might discuss the chip issue, but ultimately reported that the topic did not arise during their talks.

During a developers' event last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed that Nvidia has not applied for US export licenses for the Chinese market due to Beijing's current stance toward the company.

"They've made it very clear that they don't want Nvidia to be there right now," he stated, while noting that access to the Chinese market is necessary to fund research and development efforts in the United States.

On Friday, Nvidia announced plans to supply more than 260,000 Blackwell AI chips to South Korea and several of the country's major corporations, including Samsung Electronics.