WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that he would allow Nvidia to sell an advanced type of computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to ''approved customers'' in China.
There have been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips to be sold to China as it could help the country better compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities, but there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
The chip, known as the H200, is not Nvidia's most advanced product. Those chips, called Blackwell and the upcoming Rubin, were not part of what Trump approved.
Trump said on social media that he had informed China's leader Xi Jinping about his decision and ''President Xi responded positively!''
''This policy will support American Jobs, strengthen U.S. Manufacturing, and benefit American Taxpayers,'' Trump said in his post.
Nvidia said in a statement that it applauded Trump's decision, saying the choice would support domestic manufacturing and that by allowing the Commerce Department to vet commercial customers it would ''strike a thoughtful balance'' on economic and national security priorities.
But a group of Democratic senators objected to the chip sales.
''Access to these chips would give China's military transformational technology to make its weapons more lethal, carry out more effective cyberattacks against American businesses and critical infrastructure, and strengthen their economic and manufacturing sector," said the statement.
