Nvidia (NVDA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang says the company is negotiating
with the U.S. government over the sale of a new, more advanced microchip to China.
In recent days, it has been reported that the U.S. technology giant is developing a new artificial intelligence microchip for China called the “B30A.”
The new chip will be more powerful than the current H20 semiconductor that Nvidia is allowed to sell in the country of 1.4 billion people.
The older, less powerful H20 chip is currently the only one Nvidia can sell in China. The U.S. is concerned that advanced American chips could be used in Chinese military applications.
Speaking to media during a trip to Taiwan, Huang said: “Offering a new product to China for the data center, AI data centers, the follow on to H20, that’s not our decision to make. It’s up to of course the United States government. And we are in dialogue with them. But it’s too soon to know.”
Nvidia has struck an agreement that will see the company give 15% of its China chip sales to America’s federal government in exchange for export licenses.
At the same time, China has raised concerns about potential security vulnerabilities in Nvidia chips, saying the company’s products contain “kill switches and backdoors.”
Huang denies those claims. The CEO has also argued that Nvidia should be allowed to sell its chips to China, so that the country’s artificial intelligence (A.I.) is built on American technology.
NVDA stock has risen 27% this year to trade at $174.98 U.S. per share.
