NVIDIA's Jen-Hsun Huang is under siege from the White House! Trump temporarily halts Blackwell's sales to China.

On the eve of the meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents in Busan, South Korea, a fierce debate broke out within the White House. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang pushed for the approval to sell the next generation of artificial intelligence chips, Blackwell, to China, but was met with nearly unanimous opposition from U.S. officials due to national security concerns. Ultimately, Trump decided to shelve the issue, and it was not included in the formal agenda of the Busan talks on October 30.

Jen-Hsun Huang's direct confrontation with the White House hawks

(Source: Reuters)

Jen-Hsun Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, is strongly advocating for the approval to sell the new generation of artificial intelligence chips, Blackwell, to China. If this request is granted, it will represent a significant turning point in U.S. tech policy. The Blackwell series chips are considered the most advanced AI processors globally, with computational power approximately three times greater than that of the H100 series, achieving up to 15 times the performance during model inference. This leap in performance will significantly enhance China's AI data center capabilities, narrowing the technological gap with the U.S. in fields such as training large language models, autonomous driving, and medical image analysis.

Jen-Hsun Huang believes that China has nearly half of the world's AI researchers, and if the U.S. completely blocks the market, it may “permanently lose its technological leadership.” This argument is based on commercial and technological realities: China is not only an important market for NVIDIA (which once accounted for 20-25% of its revenue), but also a significant participant in global AI innovation. If the U.S. completely blocks, China will be forced to accelerate its independent chip development, which may cultivate local companies that compete with NVIDIA in the long run. Moreover, a blockade could also promote collaboration between Chinese chip companies and those from other countries (such as South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan), undermining U.S. influence.

However, senior officials such as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trade Representative Jamison Greer, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick unanimously opposed this, arguing that it would severely threaten U.S. national security and enhance China's AI data center capabilities. The logic of the national security faction is that AI technology has dual-use nature; advanced AI chips can be used not only for commercial applications but also accelerate the development of military AI systems, including autonomous weapons, intelligence analysis, cyber warfare tools, etc. Allowing NVIDIA to export Blackwell to China is equivalent to providing strategic technology to a potential adversary.

Faced with nearly unanimous security concerns, Trump ultimately did not bring the issue into the formal agenda during the Busan talks on October 30. This is seen as a phased victory for the White House hawks and represents Trump's temporary maintenance of a hardline stance on high-tech export policies to China. This decision is a significant setback for Nvidia and means that China will find it difficult to obtain advanced chip supplies in the short term, delaying its AI and semiconductor self-sufficiency progress.

Jen-Hsun Huang and Trump’s late-night call discussing a compromise solution

NVIDIA, as the world's highest-valued technology company, has a deep reliance on the Chinese market. Chip export restrictions began in 2022, and since then, Washington has repeatedly adjusted its policies, putting companies in a state of ongoing game theory. Jen-Hsun Huang has frequently been running to Washington in recent months, maintaining close communication with Trump. Several informed sources have stated that the two “almost have late-night calls every week.” This direct engagement shows that Jen-Hsun Huang is trying to bypass the bureaucratic levels and directly persuade the top decision-makers.

Trump stated during an interview with CBS's “60 Minutes” last week that the United States will allow Nvidia to “collaborate with China at certain levels,” but emphasized that “we will not give that kind of chip to others”—implying that the highest-end version, Blackwell, remains banned for export. This statement leaves room for a compromise, neither completely shutting down Nvidia's business interests nor maintaining control over the most advanced technologies.

NVIDIA is designing a “China version of Blackwell” with a performance reduction of 30% to 50%, aiming to retain some market share within the regulatory framework. Even so, it remains uncertain whether the proposal will be approved. Chips with reduced performance may still violate U.S. export control regulations, as the criteria for evaluation are not only absolute performance values but also include potential military applications and technology proliferation risks. Furthermore, even if approved, the commercial appeal of the downgraded Blackwell would significantly diminish, as Chinese customers may turn to other alternatives.

NVIDIA Blackwell Controversy Key Points

Performance Improvement: 3 times the computing power compared to H100, 15 times the inference performance.

Market Dependence: China once accounted for 20-25% of NVIDIA's revenue.

Jen-Hsun Huang's Strategy: Frequent lobbying in Washington, having almost weekly late-night calls with Trump.

Compromise Solution: Design performance reduced by 30-50% for the “Chinese version”

Opposition Camp: The Secretary of State, the Trade Representative, and the Secretary of Commerce are almost unanimous in their opposition.

Trump stated: “Cooperation is possible at 'certain levels', but the highest version is prohibited.”

Opportunities and Losses of the Busan Summit

The Busan summit was originally seen as a key opportunity for easing Sino-U.S. relations. The U.S. hoped to lower some tariffs in exchange for China resuming exports of rare earth magnetic materials, while Beijing expected the U.S. to ease its restrictions on AI chip bans. In the end, although both countries announced the resumption of some agricultural trade and the suspension of additional tariffs, no breakthrough agreement was reached in the high-tech sector.

For China, this result means that it will be difficult to obtain advanced chip supplies in the short term, delaying its progress towards AI and semiconductor self-sufficiency. China is forced to continue relying on self-research and informal channels such as smuggling to obtain chips. However, in the long run, the blockade may instead accelerate China's technological self-sufficiency. Historically, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan developed their own semiconductor industries under the pressure of U.S. technology blockades or restrictions. China has a large market, ample funding, and a vast number of engineers, and if given enough time, it could achieve chip self-sufficiency in 5-10 years.

For the United States, it has maintained a strategic “window of technological leadership.” By restricting the export of advanced chips, the U.S. has delayed the enhancement of China's AI capabilities, buying itself time for strategic advantage. However, this strategy comes at a cost: NVIDIA loses huge revenues, China accelerates its de-Americanization, and allied countries may sell alternative chips to China under pressure.

Congress Criticism and Power Struggle over Computing Power

At the same time, the U.S. Congress and think tanks are intensifying their countermeasures against NVIDIA's lobbying activities. The House's “China Task Force” even criticized Jen-Hsun Huang's public statements as “naive and dangerous,” comparing the AI race to the nuclear arms race of the Cold War era. This analogy reveals Washington's strategic understanding of AI: it is not just a business tool, but also the foundation of national security and global hegemony.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai stated in a statement: “President Trump listens to voices from all sectors, including the opinions of top business leaders, when formulating policies. However, the final decision is always made with the best interests of the American people as the sole consideration.” This statement shows that Trump, while reshaping technology trade policies, is attempting to balance the pressures of “business interests, geopolitical competition, and electoral politics.”

Even though Blackwell's exports are hindered, NVIDIA is still seeking a compromise. In August of this year, Trump proposed easing export restrictions on the old version of the H20 chip, on the condition that companies must pay 15% of their sales revenue from China. However, this plan was subsequently resisted by the Chinese side, resulting in a sharp decline in NVIDIA's sales in China. Currently, NVIDIA is still waiting for Washington to approve its “low-power version of Blackwell” to enter the Chinese market. Trump plans to visit Beijing in April 2025, and Jen-Hsun Huang is expected to continue promoting the chip export issue before and after the trip.

The policy tug-of-war over AI chip exports has transcended mere commercial competition and become a microcosm of geopolitical and technological hegemony. Against the backdrop of the global AI industry accelerating militarization, every decision made by the Trump administration influences markets, businesses, and national strategies. As one White House economic advisor stated, “This is not just a decision about chips, but a game determining who controls computing power in the 21st century.”