Why Trump Flip-Flopped on Nvidia Selling H20 Chips to China
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Summary
Nvidia has agreed to give the US government a 15% share of its revenue from sales of its H20 chips to China in order to continue doing so, despite the chips being obsolete.
Trump’s administration had banned all sales of H20 chips to China earlier in the year, but reversed its decision after a meeting between the president and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Huang successfully argued that the sales did not pose a risk to US national security.
The situation is more complex than it first appears, as it dates back to Biden administration export controls aimed at preventing China from accessing advanced semiconductors crucial for AI development.
The Biden team’s interventions were the start of a multi-year plan to ensure the US maintained supremacy in this area, which is expected to have major economic and military implications in the future.
