Trump approves sale of more advanced Nvidia computer chips used in AI to
China
[December 09, 2025] By
JOSH BOAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he would allow
Nvidia to sell an advanced type of computer chip used in the development
of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China.
There have been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips to be
sold to China as it could help the country better compete against the
U.S. in building out AI capabilities, but there has also been a desire
to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker
Nvidia.
The chip, known as the H200, is not Nvidia's most advanced product.
Those chips, called Blackwell and the upcoming Rubin, were not part of
what Trump approved.
Trump said on social media that he had informed China's leader Xi
Jinping about his decision and “President Xi responded positively!”
“This policy will support American Jobs, strengthen U.S. Manufacturing,
and benefit American Taxpayers,” Trump said in his post.
Nvidia said in a statement that it applauded Trump's decision, saying
the choice would support domestic manufacturing and that by allowing the
Commerce Department to vet commercial customers it would “strike a
thoughtful balance” on economic and national security priorities.
But a group of Democratic senators objected to the chip sales.
“Access to these chips would give China’s military transformational
technology to make its weapons more lethal, carry out more effective
cyberattacks against American businesses and critical infrastructure,
and strengthen their economic and manufacturing sector," said the
statement.
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 The group included Sens. Chris Coons
of Delaware, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Jack Reed of Rhode
Island, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Brian Schatz of Hawaii,
Andy Kim of New Jersey, Michael Bennet of Colorado and Elissa
Slotkin of Michigan.
The senators noted that Chinese AI company DeepSeek recently said
the lack of access to advanced American-designed chip was their
biggest challenge in competing with U.S. companies involved in AI,
with companies including OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic,
Perplexity and Palantir making major investments in developing the
technology.
Trump said the Commerce Department was “finalizing the details” for
other chipmakers such as AMD and Intel to sell their technologies
abroad.
The approval of the licenses to sell Nvidia H200 chips reflects the
increasing power and close relationship that the company's founder
and CEO, Jensen Huang, enjoys with the president. But there have
been concerns that China will find ways to use the chips to develop
its own AI products in ways that could pose national security risks
for the U.S., a primary concern of the Biden administration that
sought to limit exports.
Nvidia has a market cap of $4.5 trillion and Trump's announcement
appeared to drive the stock slightly higher in after hours trading.
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