US lawmaker demands details on Trump’s decision to sell Nvidia H200 chips to China
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The H200 is the predecessor to Nvidia’s current flagship chips and is still used in the US AI industry.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SAN FRANCISCO – US lawmaker John Moolenaar, the chair of the US House of Representatives’ bipartisan select committee focused on China, on Dec 12 asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to explain the details of US President Donald Trump’s decision to allow Nvidia to sell its H200 chips to China
The move by Mr Trump earlier this week signalled a marked break with precedent from Mr Trump’s own first administration and that of former president Joseph Biden’s of not allowing China access to the most powerful artificial intelligence hardware from US chip firms.
The H200 is the predecessor to Nvidia’s current flagship chips and is still in use in the US AI industry.
In a letter to Mr Lutnick on Dec 12, Mr Moolenaar cited media reports that said Mr Trump’s decision was based at least in part on claimed chip performance gains by Huawei Technologies, which is developing its own AI chips.
But those gains came from a chip that was illegally procured through shell companies from Taiwanese and Korean suppliers, Mr Moolenaar’s letter said, and Huawei’s next offering is expected to take a step backwards when only depending on domestic Chinese chip factories.
Mr Moolenaar said that the coming setback for Huawei was proof Mr Trump’s earlier approach to export controls was working and changing course presented risks.
“As AI evolves, aggregate computing power – not theoretical per-chip efficiency – will remain the engine of progress,” Mr Moolenaar wrote.
“Approving the sale of cutting-edge chips to Chinese companies risks undercutting the extraordinary strategic advantage that President Trump achieved in his first term.”
Mr Moolenaar asked Mr Lutnick for a briefing on the evidence and analysis underlying the H200 decision by mid-January.
The White House and Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. REUTERS
