Trump to meet with Jensen of Nvidia, NVDA, in White House

Discussions among Trump administration officials about tightening restrictions on chip shipments to China are still in the early stages, sources said, noting that the idea has been under consideration since the administration of Democratic former President Joe Biden. The H20 chips, designed to comply with existing U.S. export controls imposed by Biden, can be used to run AI software.

Meanwhile, two U.S. lawmakers are pushing for further restrictions on the export of Nvidia's artificial intelligence chips.

Republican John Moolenaar and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, who lead the House Select Committee on China, have called for the move as part of a broader review ordered by President Trump. The review, led by the Commerce and State Departments, aims to reassess the U.S. export control system in response to “developments involving strategic adversaries.”

The Biden administration first restricted sales of Nvidia’s most powerful AI chip, the H100, to China in 2022. In response, Nvidia developed a slightly less powerful version, the H800, for the Chinese market, which remained within the export limits. However, the H800 was later restricted in 2023, prompting Nvidia to introduce the H20 last year.

On Thursday, Reuters reported that the U.S. Commerce Department is investigating whether DeepSeek has been using restricted U.S. chips that are not permitted for shipment to China.