Trump: Nvidia’s top Blackwell chips are U.S.-only
On Nov 2–3, 2025, President Donald Trump said the most advanced Nvidia Blackwell chips will be available only to U.S. customers, sharpening prior signals on export controls. More than 260,000 Blackwell units are headed to South Korea, underscoring that allies can secure volume while China may see only scaled‑down versions – if any – under future rules.
Supporters frame this as locking in America’s lead in foundation‑model compute. The administration in July floated broader AI exports to allies; Trump’s latest line hardens the ceiling at the very top. Nvidia, meanwhile, says it hasn’t sought Chinese licenses and notes Beijing has signalled local firms away from its products. The net effect is a two‑track world: U.S. and close partners with priority access; China reliant on domestic alternatives or reduced‑capability parts.
Trump’s comments also follow Nvidia’s commitments to South Korea’s public sector and major companies, including Samsung. The distinction is clear: Washington is comfortable scaling Blackwell across trusted partners, but not delivering the highest‑end configuration to strategic competitors. Questions remain about which “cut‑down” SKUs might be permitted and how fast export guardrails could tighten.
The most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States,Trump said.
China hawks in Congress argue that even reduced versions risk boosting Beijing’s AI capacity and military applications, pressing for tighter limits across the product stack.
Compute access sets the pace of AI development. For crypto and Web3 teams that rely on large‑scale training, inference, or on‑chain data analytics, U.S.‑only top chips mean higher costs and longer queues outside the U.S., while allied markets see faster cluster build‑outs. Over time, this could shift where AI‑heavy startups incorporate, raise capital, and deploy infrastructure.
The near‑term path looks segmented: U.S. keeps the absolute frontier; allies receive substantial allocations; China faces either reduced performance parts or a push to domestic silicon. Policy can still evolve, but today’s signal draws a hard line at the top of the stack.
As GNcrypto reported earlier, on Oct 31, 2025 Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he hopes the company can “someday” sell Blackwell chips to China, while noting Nvidia hasn’t applied for Chinese licenses and sees weak demand as buyers turn to domestic chips. That stance now meets a firmer White House position, making China sales of top‑tier Blackwells even less likely and reinforcing a dual‑track access model.
