"US President Donald Trump said he didn't discuss approving sales of Nvidia Corp.'s Blackwell chips to China with his counterpart Xi Jinping, dampening speculation that Washington will allow exports of the powerful AI accelerators to the world's largest semiconductor market. Trump said he and Xi talked about Nvidia's access to China in general and that the chipmaker would continue conversations with Beijing, which has discouraged domestic firms from using less-advanced Nvidia processors that Washington already approved for sale."
"We did discuss chips, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. They're going to be talking to Nvidia and others about taking chips. Asked specifically whether the US would authorize exports of downgraded Blackwell accelerators, a possibility Trump first suggested months ago, the US president said we're not talking about the Blackwell. Trump's comments came just a day after he said he'd discuss Nvidia's Blackwell lineup with Xi, as part of broader talks aimed at a sweeping trade deal between the world's two largest economies."
"Those earlier remarks triggered hope among investors and fear among many China hawks that Washington would green-light sales of better American AI chips than China's ever been able to access. That helped drive a rally that made Nvidia the first company to hit a $5 trillion value. China is the biggest market for semiconductors, and Nvidia's products are the industrial standard for training and running large-language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT."
No approval was discussed for exporting Nvidia's Blackwell chips to China during recent high-level talks, though Nvidia's access to China was raised broadly and follow-up conversations with Beijing were expected. Earlier comments suggesting possible authorization of downgraded Blackwell accelerators had sparked investor optimism and concern among China hawks, driving Nvidia's market rally and $5 trillion valuation. Blackwell chips outperform processors previously restricted from China in 2022. US export controls have been tightened repeatedly amid worries that advanced AI technology could provide military advantages, and Nvidia's CEO has lobbied against those restrictions.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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