Donald Trump compliments Nvidia's most powerful AI chip, but why it will not make CEO Jensen Huang 'happy'

Donald Trump has decided not to allow China to purchase Nvidia’s flagship Blackwell chips. In a recent interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes, the US President made it clear that the advanced technology will be reserved for the country. When asked whether the chipmaker would be allowed to sell its most advanced chips to China, Trump said, “No, we won’t do that. We will not let anybody have them other than the United States.” The latest remarks came after Trump complimented the chip, saying, “It’s 10 years ahead of every other chip. No, we don’t give that chip to other people.” However, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang may not be totally 'happy' with Trump’s decision. Last month, as US and Chinese policies squeezed the chip giant, Huang said the company's China business is now “100% out,” describing a collapse from “95% market share to 0%” from both sides at that time.Justifying his decision, Trump argued that giving China advanced chips would provide it with “an equal advantage” in the chip competition, adding, “Right now, we’re winning it because we’re producing electricity like never before.”However, his position contrasts with a comment made by the Nvidia CEO last week. Huang expressed hope that his company would eventually be able to sell the Blackwell chips, its latest generation of AI chips, in China. However, he acknowledged the government's authority, telling reporters, “I hope so, but that’s a decision for President Trump to make.” The United States has already imposed export controls on the sale of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips to China to limit its technology progress.“We’re getting approvals done in two to three weeks. It used to take 20 years. And we are leading the AI race right now by a lot,” Trump added in the interview.After last week’s bilateral meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, Trump told reporters that semiconductors were part of the discussion and that China was “going to be talking to Nvidia and others about taking chips,” but added, “We’re not talking about the Blackwell.”Last week, lawmakers from both parties advised caution regarding the sale of advanced chips to China. The US House Select Committee on the CCP took to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to claim that its chair, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), had informed the Trump administration that the United States “cannot sell the latest advanced AI chips to our country’s primary adversary.”In a statement, committee co-chair Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said: “At a time when the most advanced chips are limited in supply, growing our economy and supporting American ingenuity should come before facilitating the CCP’s military modernisation and human rights abuses.”