US President Donald Trump said Nvidia’s most advanced artificial intelligence chips will be restricted to American firms, effectively barring China and other countries from accessing the powerful Blackwell processors that underpin next-generation AI systems, Reuters reported.
“The most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States,” Trump told CBS’ 60 Minutes in a taped interview that aired Sunday. He repeated similar comments to reporters aboard Air Force One, adding, “We don’t give the Blackwell chip to other people.”
This comes as the Trump administration prepares to enforce tighter export limits on high-end semiconductors than previously expected, in a move that could reshape the global AI supply chain. The decision follows months of debate in Washington over how to balance national security with the commercial interests of major US chipmakers.
Nvidia’s Blackwell chips, the backbone of many of the world’s most powerful AI systems, have been in high demand across Asia. Last week, the company announced plans to deliver more than 260,000 chips to South Korea, supplying major conglomerates including Samsung Electronics and SK Group.
Trump’s comments raised questions about whether those exports will continue and whether restrictions will extend beyond China to US allies. The president did not clarify whether South Korean or European customers would still have access to the full-capability version of the Blackwell line.
The move marks a reversal from the administration’s July policy blueprint, which aimed to expand AI exports to friendly nations to maintain US dominance in the technology.
Nvidia, now the world’s most valuable company by market capitalisation, has been at the centre of escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing. Chief Executive Jensen Huang said last week the company had “zero per cent” of the China market, down from 95 per cent at the start of the Biden administration, after multiple rounds of US export curbs.
“The China market is large and vibrant,” Huang told reporters in South Korea on Friday. “I hope we can sell Blackwell chips there, but that’s a decision for President Trump to make.”
He added that China had already developed its own AI chips and blocked Nvidia’s earlier H20 model, arguing that “whatever national security concerns exist should take into account that China has plenty of AI technology itself.”
Trump’s stance has drawn support from China hawks in Congress. Republican Representative John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, said allowing even downgraded versions of Nvidia’s chips into the Chinese market “would be akin to giving Iran weapons-grade uranium.”
The president stopped short of ruling out sales of simplified models, saying Chinese buyers could “deal with Nvidia but not in terms of the most advanced” chips.
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