Nvidia in talks with Biden administration about AI chip sales to China, US commerce chief Gina Raimondo says
- Raimondo says she spoke a week ago to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and he made it clear that the company did not want to ‘break the rules’
- Separately, Raimondo again calls on Congress to pass legislation to address potential threats to national security from foreign apps like TikTok
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, speaking in an interview with Reuters on Monday, said Nvidia “can, will and should sell AI chips to China because most AI chips will be for commercial applications”.
“What we cannot allow them to ship is the most sophisticated, highest-processing power AI chips, which would enable China to train their frontier models,” she added.
Raimondo said she spoke a week ago to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and he was “crystal clear. We don’t want to break the rules. Tell us the rules, we’ll work with you.”
Raimondo sent a warning to chip companies on AI chips at a forum last week in California. She said traditionally the Commerce Department drew a “cutline” and companies like Nvidia would create a new chip “just below” that line.
“That’s not productive,” Raimondo said. “I am telling you if you redesign a chip around a particular cutline that enables them to do AI, I am going to control it the very next day.”
