On October 30, 2025, US President Trump stated that during his meeting with Xi Jinping, they did not discuss Nvidia’s highest-level artificial intelligence chip “Blackwell”.
Trump, wrapping up his trip to South Korea, told the media aboard Air Force One that he discussed Nvidia’s chip sales in China with Xi Jinping, but whether they would continue to discuss allowing Nvidia to enter the Chinese market depended on Beijing. As for whether they discussed Nvidia exporting the downgraded Blackwell chip B30A or releasing a downgraded version of the flagship GPU processor for export, Trump responded, “We did not discuss Blackwell.”
Trump’s latest statement contradicted his implication on Wednesday that he might discuss the Blackwell chip with Xi.
At that time, Trump hinted that the Blackwell chip issue might be part of the Trump-Xi discussion, sparking speculation that the US might approve Nvidia to export a reduced version of the chip to China. If realized, it would be a significant concession to Beijing, while overturning Washington’s longstanding policies restricting China’s development of artificial intelligence.
Nvidia has expressed hope to obtain approval from both the US and China to sell a reduced version of its highest-level chip.
The Blackwell chip is seen by many experts as a key to maintaining America’s lead in AI computing capabilities. When rumors surfaced that China might acquire a downgraded version, Washington immediately strongly opposed.
Members of both parties in the US Congress said that even with a downsized chip, it could provide crucial technology for China to obtain America’s most powerful AI chip.
John Moolenaar, Chairman of the Special Committee on China, stated on X platform that he has made it clear to the government that selling Nvidia’s most advanced AI hardware to China is “no different than handing weapon-grade uranium to Iran,” and “the latest, most advanced AI chips should not be sold to the main adversary of the country.”
Moolenaar added that these chips should be provided to “American companies committed to long-term consolidation of America’s AI dominance, rather than to strengthen the future military power of the CCP.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and 11 other Democratic senators also urged Trump to avoid lifting export restrictions on the chip in any trade negotiations with Xi.
Tim Fist, Director of Advanced Technology Policy at the Institute for Progress, said, “If we decide to export B30A, it will significantly weaken America’s main advantage over China in the field of AI.”
He explained that B30A is essentially the same as the Blackwell chip, just in a different packaging.
Fist pointed out that by purchasing twice the amount of chips, China could achieve the same computing power, possibly at a similar price.
In a joint report analyzing nine export scenarios, in the best case, if no high-performance chips are exported to China next year, America’s AI computing power will be 30 times that of China.
In the worst-case scenario, if the US allows the export of B30A chips and similar products from other American companies, China could surpass America in computing power by 2026.
Other intermediate scenarios show that although the US still leads China, the advantage would narrow to just four times.
Current national security and technology analyst Chris McGuire shares the same view. He stated, “If this chip is allowed for export, then the export control of artificial intelligence chips would essentially be meaningless.”
(This article references reports from Bloomberg, Reuters, and Cryptopolitan)