Nvidia's Washington charm offensive has paid off big

"Under President Trump, it's becoming clear that doing business with China is fine-under the right, lucrative conditions. In a post on Truth Social, the president said this week that his administration will allow Nvidia to sell one of its most powerful AI chips, the H200, to China. The H200 is said to be up to six times more powerful than the H20, the most powerful chip Nvidia had won approval to sell to China. Washington and Beijing are currently in a tight race to lead AI and robotics research, and are locked in direct competition to apply the technologies in defense and intelligence."

"Now, Trump has been persuaded to sell H200s to China-provided that the chips are routed through the U.S. for a "security review" and that the U.S. gets a 25% cut of the sales. "I have informed President Xi of China that the United States will allow Nvidia to ship its H200 products to approved customers in China and other countries under conditions that allow for strong national security," the president posted to Truth Social. Notably, the agreement won't apply to Nvidia's most powerful chips, Trump says: the new Blackwell GPUs and the forthcoming Rubin GPUs."

The administration approved conditional sales of Nvidia's H200 AI chips to China, routing shipments through the U.S. for a security review and taking a 25% cut of sales. The H200 is reported to be up to six times more powerful than the previously approved H20. The agreement excludes Nvidia's most powerful Blackwell and upcoming Rubin GPUs. Nvidia and allies, including AI czar David Sacks, lobbied the administration for eased restrictions to access China's large chip market. Washington and Beijing remain in direct competition to lead AI and robotics research and defense applications.

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