August 25, 2025

Big news from the tech world! Nvidia, the chip powerhouse led by CEO Jensen Huang, is making smart moves in the tricky game of US chip export controls to China. These rules, created because of worries about security, money, and tech power, have put a huge roadblock on Nvidia’s AI chip sales in China—worth a jaw-dropping $50 billion. But Huang isn't sitting quietly. He revealed that Nvidia is working hand-in-hand with the Trump administration to craft a new chip that can legally be sold to China. This is a major twist in the ongoing tug-of-war over technology leadership between the US and China. Here’s the backstory: China has tried for years to step up their chip game, starting in 2014 with a massive government fund pushing hundreds of semiconductor companies forward. But the US, first under Trump and now Biden, fired back by blocking China from critical chip-making tools and machines — like the special light-etching machine sold only by the Dutch company ASML. This slowed China’s ability to make the tiny, powerful chip parts needed for AI and other tech. Huawei became the poster child of this battle, with US leaders claiming their equipment posed spying risks. Trump said in 2020, "We don't want their equipment in the United States because they spy on us," and backed tough limits on what Huawei and others could buy. When Biden took office, he kept up and even stepped up these restrictions. Nvidia’s top AI chip, the H100, got caught in this net in 2022. So Nvidia got clever and created a new chip just different enough to try and slip through the rules. But the US raised the bar again in 2023. Undeterred, Nvidia made the H20 chip, hoping it could still reach China’s eager AI market. Then came a rollercoaster: The Trump administration first stopped the H20 sales in April 2023 for national security. However, by July, after talks with Nvidia and AMD, they allowed sales to start again. Nvidia took a hard financial hit—losing $4.5 billion early in the year, and expecting $8 billion more lost sales in just a few months! Jensen Huang made a strong case, telling analysts, "The question is not whether China will have AI, it already does. The question is whether one of the world's largest AI markets will run on American platforms. Shielding Chinese chipmakers from U.S. competition only strengthens them abroad and weakens America's position." In a surprising move to smooth things out, Nvidia and AMD agreed in August to share 15% of their chip sales revenue from China with the US government. This deal helped them gain export licenses, keeping their chips running into one of the biggest AI markets on the planet. So, the battle over chips continues with Nvidia at the center, juggling government rules and billion-dollar business in a high-stakes tech saga that could shape the future of AI around the world.

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Tags: Nvidia, Chip export controls, China, Ai chips, Us government, Jensen huang,