U.S. President Donald Trump met with the CEO of Nvidia, a prominent player in the technology sector. During a meeting at the White House on Friday, Jensen Huang addressed DeepSeek, the Chinese company whose AI model has significantly impacted the tech landscape, as well as the issue of tightening AI chip exports, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
Trump refrained from disclosing specifics about the meeting, referring to Huang as a “gentleman.”
It remains uncertain what the future holds. A meeting was held. “It was a productive meeting,” Trump stated.
The Friday afternoon meeting coincided with the government’s plans to impose additional restrictions on AI chip exports this spring. This move aims to safeguard advanced computing power within the United States and its allies while simultaneously seeking new methods to limit China’s access to these technologies.
An Nvidia spokesperson stated, “We appreciated the opportunity to meet with President Trump and discuss semiconductors and AI policy.” “Jensen and the President engaged in a dialogue about the critical need to bolster U.S. leadership in technology and artificial intelligence.”
A source familiar with the discussions between the president and the CEO of the Santa Clara, California-based company, known for producing cutting-edge AI chips, revealed that the meeting was arranged before the upheaval caused by DeepSeek in the technology sector.
A source has indicated that the president believes the rise of the Chinese company suggests that “U.S. companies don’t have to spend a tonne of money building a low-cost (AI) alternative.”
The meeting occurred amid growing concerns that China is rapidly advancing in AI development, potentially closing the gap with the United States. Last week, China’s DeepSeek introduced a free assistant, claiming it operates on significantly less data and at a much lower cost than models available in the United States.
In a matter of days, DeepSeek emerged as the top downloaded application in Apple’s App Store, raising alarms regarding the United States’ dominance in artificial intelligence. This development triggered a significant sell-off, resulting in a loss of approximately $1 trillion in U.S. technology stocks. At one point, shares of Nvidia, a leading manufacturer of AI chips, experienced a decline of 17%.
Sources informed Reuters on Wednesday that the Trump administration is contemplating imposing stricter limitations on Nvidia’s sales of its H20 chips intended for the Chinese market.
According to sources, discussions among officials in the Trump administration regarding the limitation of chip shipments to China are reportedly in the preliminary phases. This concept has been on the table since the tenure of former Democratic President Joe Biden. H20 chips can power AI software and have been engineered to adhere to the U.S. restrictions on exports to China established by the Biden administration.
Two lawmakers in the United States are advocating for increased limitations on the export of Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips.
Republican John Moolenaar and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, co-chairs of the House of Representatives Select Committee on China, have requested this action as part of a review initiated by the Commerce and State Departments. This review, mandated by former President Trump, examines the U.S. export control system in response to recent developments concerning strategic adversaries.
In 2022, the Biden administration implemented restrictions on selling Nvidia’s most advanced AI chip, the H100, to China. Nvidia has introduced a new variant, the H800, which was explicitly designed for the Chinese market and narrowly avoided export restrictions. In 2023, the H800 faced restrictions, while Nvidia introduced the H20 the previous year.
On Thursday, it was reported that the U.S. Commerce Department is investigating DeepSeek’s potential use of U.S. chips prohibited from being exported to China.
