January 22, 2026
World
World
TOKYO, Jan 22 — Japan has halted the restart of the world’s largest nuclear power plant just hours after it began, though the reactor remains “stable,” the operator said.
WASHINGTON, Dec 9 — President Donald Trump said on Monday that he has reached an agreement with President Xi Jinping to allow US chipmaker Nvidia to export advanced artificial intelligence chips to China.
The move marks a major shift in US export policy on advanced AI chips, which were tightly restricted under Joe Biden’s administration over national security concerns tied to potential Chinese military use.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had informed Xi that Washington would allow Nvidia to ship its H200 chips to “approved customers in China and other countries, under conditions that ensure continued strong national security.”
“President Xi responded positively! 25 per cent will be paid to the United States of America,” Trump wrote, without elaborating on how the payment arrangement would work.
Trump criticised his predecessor’s policy, saying it had forced US companies to spend billions developing “degraded” products that slowed innovation and harmed American workers. This referred to Biden-era requirements for chipmakers to produce downgraded versions for the Chinese market to comply with export controls, including reduced processing speeds.
Under those previous restrictions, the H200 and other advanced chips were barred from export to China.
“We applaud President Trump’s decision to allow America’s chip industry to compete to support high-paying jobs and manufacturing in the United States,” an Nvidia spokesperson told AFP. “Offering H200 to approved commercial customers, vetted by the Department of Commerce, strikes a thoughtful balance that benefits America.”
Trump said the decision aims to support US jobs, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and benefit American taxpayers. He stressed that Nvidia’s most advanced chips — the Blackwell series and the upcoming Rubin processors — are excluded from the deal and will remain available only to US customers. The H200 chips are about 18 months behind Nvidia’s latest technology.
Graphic processing units (GPUs) such as the H200 are used to train AI models that underpin the generative AI boom sparked by the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.
The US Commerce Department is finalising implementation details, with Trump saying the same export approach will later apply to AMD, Intel and other US chipmakers.
The policy change comes amid heightened US-China trade tensions and competition for dominance in artificial intelligence.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had lobbied the White House extensively to overturn the Biden-era rules, despite strong opposition in Washington to selling powerful chips to Chinese firms.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said the decision stemmed from a “backroom meeting” between Trump and Nvidia, citing the company’s donation to fund the White House East Wing ballroom. She warned the move could “turbocharge China’s military and undermine American technological leadership.”
Alex Stapp of the Washington-based Institute for Progress described the shift as a “massive own goal,” noting that the H200 is “six times more powerful than the H20, which was previously the most powerful chip approved for export.” — AFP
