The Trump administration has decided not to proceed with planned restrictions on Nvidia’s H20 artificial intelligence (AI) chip exports to China. This reversal occurred shortly after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attended a dinner at Mar-a-Lago. The proposed export controls had been under development for several months and were nearly ready for implementation. However, following the dinner, Nvidia committed to making new AI-related investments in U.S. data centers, which influenced the administration’s decision to halt the restrictions.
The H20 chip is currently the most advanced AI processor that U.S. regulations permit for sale in China. Calls to restrict these exports began during President Biden’s administration and continued under President Trump, with bipartisan lawmakers advocating for tighter controls due to national security concerns. Nvidia has recently experienced a surge in H20 chip orders, driven by demand from Chinese tech giants such as ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent, who have reportedly committed approximately $16 billion in orders within the first quarter of the year.
The White House and Nvidia have not provided official comments on this decision.
