NVIDIA's $50B China chip sales blocked by US export restrictions
NVIDIA, the world's leading designer of AI chips, is right at the center of the US-China tech rivalry.
CEO Jensen Huang recently shared that NVIDIA is working with the Trump administration to build a new chip for China—highlighting just how important semiconductors are in global power struggles.
But strict US export controls aimed at slowing China's tech growth have blocked NVIDIA's plans to sell $50 billion worth of AI chips there.
NVIDIA and AMD's workaround
To get around these hurdles, NVIDIA tried making special versions of its chips (like the H20), but even those faced fresh restrictions as US rules tightened under Biden (after 2021), with the Trump administration halting H20 sales in April 2024.
Despite these setbacks, NVIDIA and AMD struck a deal to share 15% of their China sales with the US government—a move showing how companies are finding creative ways to survive in this high-stakes trade war.
Even with all this pressure, NVIDIA isn't backing down from its big ambitions in China.