Trump Says China and Other Countries Will Not Get Access to Nvidia’s Top AI Chips

U.S. President Donald Trump said that the most advanced chips made by artificial intelligence giant Nvidia (NVDA.O) will remain reserved for American companies and will not be supplied to China or other countries.

In a recorded interview aired Sunday on CBS’s 60 Minutes and during a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump stated that only U.S. customers should have access to Nvidia’s high-end Blackwell chips. Nvidia is currently the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization.

“The most advanced ones — we’re not letting anyone outside the United States have them,” Trump told CBS, reiterating what he had told reporters earlier while returning to Washington from Florida over the weekend. “We don’t give (Blackwell) chips to other people,” he said during the flight.

Trump’s comments suggest that his administration may impose even tighter restrictions on the latest U.S. AI chips than previously indicated by officials, effectively cutting off China—and possibly much of the world—from accessing the most advanced semiconductors.

In July, the Trump administration released a new artificial intelligence blueprint that aimed to relax environmental regulations and expand AI exports to allied nations in a bid to preserve America’s technological edge over China.

Just last Friday, Nvidia announced plans to supply over 260,000 Blackwell AI chips to South Korea and some of its largest companies, including Samsung Electronics (005930.KS).

Since August, questions have been raised about whether Trump would allow shipments of scaled-down versions of the Blackwell chips to China after he had hinted at the possibility earlier.

Trump told CBS that he would not permit the sale of the most advanced Blackwell chips to Chinese companies but did not rule out allowing them to buy a less powerful version. “We’ll let them deal with Nvidia,” he said during the 60 Minutes interview, “but not when it comes to the most advanced ones.”

The possibility of even limited sales of Blackwell chips to Chinese firms has drawn criticism in Washington from China hawks, who fear the technology could enhance China’s military capabilities and accelerate its AI development.

Republican Congressman John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, said that allowing such sales would be “like giving Iran weapons-grade uranium.”

Trump had hinted that he might discuss the chip issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of his summit in South Korea last week but later confirmed that the topic did not come up.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said last week that the company has not sought U.S. export licenses for the Chinese market because of Beijing’s current stance. “They’ve made it clear they don’t want Nvidia there right now,” Huang said at a developers’ event, adding that access to China remains important to help fund U.S.-based research and development.