U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the most advanced artificial intelligence chips produced by Nvidia will be kept out of China and reserved solely for American companies. In a taped interview aired Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes” and in comments aboard Air Force One, Trump said that only U.S. customers should have access to the high-performance Blackwell chips from Nvidia, currently the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization.
“The most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States,” Trump told CBS, reaffirming earlier statements made to reporters while returning to Washington from a weekend in Florida. “We don’t give the Blackwell chip to other people,” he added, signaling a hardline stance on U.S. semiconductor dominance.
According to Reuters, Trump’s comments suggest even tighter export controls around cutting-edge American AI technology than previously anticipated. The new restrictions could bar not only China but potentially other nations from acquiring Nvidia’s top-end semiconductors. The announcement follows the Trump administration’s artificial intelligence blueprint released in July, which aimed to loosen environmental regulations and expand AI exports to U.S. allies as part of a broader strategy to maintain an edge over China in critical technology sectors.
Just last week, Nvidia revealed it would supply more than 260,000 Blackwell AI chips to South Korea, including major partners such as Samsung Electronics. However, questions have persisted about whether any version of the chips might reach China since August, when Trump hinted he might allow the sale of a scaled-down variant.
During his CBS interview, Trump clarified that Chinese companies would not have access to Nvidia’s most advanced models, though he did not completely rule out sales of less capable versions. “We will let them deal with Nvidia but not in terms of the most advanced,” he said.
Critics in Washington have warned that allowing even downgraded versions of Blackwell chips into China could enhance Beijing’s military and AI capabilities. Republican Congressman John Moolenaar, chair of the House Select Committee on China, compared such a move to “giving Iran weapons-grade uranium.”
Trump had previously suggested that he might discuss the chip issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in South Korea last week but later confirmed the topic did not come up.
Meanwhile, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that the company has not sought U.S. export licenses for the Chinese market, citing Beijing’s current stance toward the firm. “They’ve made it very clear that they don’t want Nvidia to be there right now,” Huang said during a developers’ event, adding that maintaining global market access is crucial to fund U.S.-based research and development.
The move underscores Washington’s growing determination to tighten control over advanced technologies as the competition between the United States and China in artificial intelligence and semiconductor innovation intensifies.
