Artificial intelligence has become one of the most important technologies in the world, and powerful computer chips are at the center of this race. Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump made strong comments about who should be allowed to use Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips. Nvidia is one of the biggest tech companies in the world, famous for creating high-performance chips that help run AI tools, large language models, and supercomputers. These chips are extremely valuable, and many countries want them to support their own technology growth. But Trump has now said he wants the most advanced Nvidia chips to be used only by American companies and not shared with China or many other countries.

In an interview that aired on the famous TV program “60 Minutes,” Trump said that only U.S. companies should have access to Nvidia’s powerful Blackwell chips. These chips are considered the top level of AI hardware right now. Trump repeated his thoughts again to reporters while he was traveling back to Washington on Air Force One. He made it clear that America should protect this technology very carefully. During the interview, Trump said, "The most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States," and he also said on the flight, "We don't give (the Blackwell) chip to other people." These words show how serious he is about keeping the most advanced technology inside the United States.

His comments raised many questions because earlier this year, U.S. officials had suggested that America might still allow some exports of advanced chips to friendly countries. But Trump's latest statements sounded stricter and suggested that the U.S. might block access to these high-tech chips for China and even other parts of the world. This would be a very big decision because AI chips are extremely important for research, national security, and future technologies. Many governments and industries depend on them.

Just a few months earlier, in July, the Trump administration had released a new plan for artificial intelligence. That plan tried to relax some environmental rules and also encouraged more AI exports to American allies. The goal was to keep the United States ahead of China in the global AI competition. AI is seen as the next major battlefield for world power, and whichever country leads in AI could lead in many industries. Because of this, decisions about who can get AI chips matter a lot.

The situation became even more confusing because Nvidia itself had recently announced something different. Only one day before Trump's comments, Nvidia said it would supply more than 260,000 Blackwell AI chips to South Korea. These chips were meant for some of the biggest Korean companies, including Samsung Electronics. This announcement made people wonder whether Trump would allow Nvidia to continue exporting the chips that the company had already promised.

There were also questions about whether Trump might allow a version of the Blackwell chips to be sold to China. Back in August, he had suggested that he might approve sales of a "scaled-down" version of these chips to China. This smaller version would not be as powerful as the original Blackwell chip. But when he spoke to “60 Minutes,” he said that while Chinese companies might be able to get a less capable version, they would not receive the most advanced one. Trump said, "We will let them deal with Nvidia but not in terms of the most advanced," making his stance quite clear.

This possibility—that even a weaker version might be sold to China—angered some lawmakers in Washington who are harsh critics of China. They worry that any advanced chip, even if slightly downgraded, could help China improve its military technology or speed up its AI research. A strong statement came from Republican Congressman John Moolenaar, who compared allowing China to buy such chips to giving dangerous nuclear material to another country. He said it “would be akin (to) giving Iran weapons-grade uranium.” This shows how seriously some U.S. leaders view the technology competition with China.

There was also talk earlier in the week that Trump might discuss the chip issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their summit in South Korea. Many expected the topic to be brought up, especially because the entire world closely watches what the U.S. and China say to each other about technology. But Trump later explained that the subject never came up in their discussions, leaving many questions still unanswered.

Nvidia, on the other hand, has also been dealing with its own difficulties regarding China. Last week, the company’s CEO, Jensen Huang, said that Nvidia had not even asked for U.S. export licenses to sell Blackwell chips to China. The reason, he said, is because China itself had made its position very clear. According to Huang, Chinese officials had told Nvidia they did not want the company there at the moment. During a developers’ event, he said that the company needed access to the Chinese market to support its research and development work in the United States, but the situation was complicated.

The bigger picture behind all of this is the global power struggle over AI. Every country wants to be the leader in artificial intelligence because AI can shape almost every field—healthcare, defense, science, business, and communication. Nvidia’s Blackwell chips are currently considered some of the strongest tools available to train AI systems. Trump believes that giving these powerful chips to other countries could weaken America’s advantage. For him, protecting these chips is the same as protecting national strength.

At the same time, countries like South Korea rely on advanced chips to grow their technological industries. Many U.S. allies look to America for support in building stronger AI systems. That is why Nvidia has deals around the world. But Trump’s comments now raise uncertainty about future global cooperation in technology. It may also affect Nvidia’s business decisions, because exporting chips is a major part of the company’s profits.