President Donald Trump said that he would not let China purchase Nvidia’s flagship Blackwell chips in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that aired on Sunday.
“No, we won’t do that,” Trump said during the interview, which was taped on Friday, when asked about whether the chipmaker will be allowed to sell its most advanced chips to China.
“We will not let anybody have them other than the United States.”
The “60 Minutes” interview on Oct. 31 was Trump’s first appearance on the show since suing and reaching a settlement with the network’s parent company, Paramount, in July.
During the interview, Trump said that the United States is currently winning the AI race, but giving China advanced chips will provide it with “an equal advantage” in the competition.
“Right now, we’re winning it because we’re producing electricity like never before,” the president said.
On Oct. 31, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang expressed hope that his company will be able to sell its Blackwell chips, its latest generation of AI chips, in China at some point, though there are no plans to do so at the moment.
“I hope so, but that’s a decision for President Trump to make,” Huang told reporters on the sidelines of the APEC CEO summit in Gyeongju, South Korea.
The United States has imposed export controls on the sale of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips to China, aiming to limit its tech progress, particularly in applications that could help its military.
“We’re getting approvals done in two to three weeks. It used to take 20 years. And we are leading the AI race right now by a lot,” Trump added.
On Nov. 2, Trump reiterated this stance when asked about Nvidia’s Blackwell chips aboard Air Force One on his way back to Washington.
“It’s 10 years ahead of every other chip,” Trump said. “No, we don’t give that chip to other people.”
After the Oct. 30 bilateral meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, Trump told reporters that semiconductors had been discussed and China was “going to be talking to Nvidia and others about taking chips,” but added, “We’re not talking about the Blackwell.”
Last week, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle urged caution about selling advanced chips to China.
Hellbound and Down 