Trump says he asked for 20% cut from Nvidia, calls H20 an ‘obsolete’ chip

President Donald Trump on Monday mentioned that he to begin with requested Nvidia for a 20% scale down of the chipmaker’s gross sales to China, however the quantity got here ailing to fifteen% later CEO Jensen Huang negotiated with him.

The feedback got here later information needy over the weekend that Nvidia yes to pay the government a fifteen% scale down in go back for receiving export keep an eye on licenses that can permit it to as soon as once more promote the H20 chip to China and Chinese language corporations. Nvidia’s Huang visited Trump within the White Area on Friday.

“I said, ‘listen, I want 20% if I’m going to approve this for you, for the country,'” Trump mentioned in a press convention in Washington.

Trump mentioned that Nvidia’s H20 is an “old chip that China already has” and is “obsolete.” He when put next the H20 chip to Nvidia’s tide quickest synthetic prudence chip, which is named Blackwell, and mentioned that he wouldn’t permit the ones to be offered to China with out important downgrades, equivalent to a 30% to 50% relief in efficiency.

“The Blackwell is super-duper advanced. I wouldn’t make a deal with that,” Trump mentioned, including that it was once imaginable to manufacture a offer for a “somewhat enhanced in a negative way” model of Blackwell.

“That’s the latest and the greatest in the world. Nobody has it. They won’t have it for five years,” Trump mentioned.

One reason why for the U.S. export controls is worry that offering complicated chips to China may just permit the international energy to leapfrog the U.S. in AI functions. Many have mentioned that would pose a warning to the nationwide safety of the U.S.

Trump mentioned that China already has chips with some related functions to the H20.

Huang has mentioned that it’s higher for U.S. nationwide safety if Chinese language AI builders utility U.S. generation, and that denying them get right of entry to to Nvidia chips would in reality inspire the Chinese language chip business to manufacture and catch up.

“He’s selling a essentially old chip,” Trump mentioned. “Huawei has a similar chip.”

The H20 is a Chinese language-specific chip that has had its efficiency bogged down. It’s indistinguishable to Nvidia’s H100 and H200 chips which can be old within the U.S. The H20 was once presented later the Biden management carried out export controls on AI chips in 2023.

In April, the Trump management mentioned it could require a license to export the H20 chip, and in Might, Huang mentioned that “effectively closed” the marketplace off to Nvidia. Huang mentioned that Nvidia was once anticipating to promote about $8 billion in H20 chips within the July quarter prior to gross sales have been prevented.

“While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide,” an Nvidia spokesperson instructed GWN on Monday.

Trump on Monday additionally mentioned that Huang plans to discuss with him once more to barter export licenses for the Blackwell chips.

“I think he’s coming to see me again about that,” Trump mentioned.

A White Area reputable showed to GWN that AMD, the second-place AI chip maker, may even pay 15% to obtain an export license for its China-focused AI chip, the Intuition MI308.

WATCH: Nvidia, AMD to pay U.S. 15% of AI chip gross sales in China to store export licenses