Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said there is a “real possibility” the company could bring its most advanced Blackwell processors to China, even as the U.S. government continues to restrict the export of high-end chips.
The remarks highlight both the opportunities and risks facing the world’s most valuable chipmaker as it navigates intensifying friction between Washington and Beijing.
On a Wednesday call following Nvidia’s blockbuster quarterly earnings, Huang, once again, argued that enabling China’s AI developers to use Nvidia hardware was in America’s strategic interest.
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“The opportunity for us to bring Blackwell to the China market is a real possibility,” he said. “We just have to keep advocating the importance of American tech companies to be able to lead and win the AI race, and help make the American tech stack the global standard.”
Huang predicted China’s AI market — already the world’s second largest — could surge by 50% next year, estimating a $50 billion opportunity in 2024 alone. “And if it’s $50 billion this year, you would expect it to grow, say, 50% per year,” he added.
The comments came after Huang personally lobbied the White House in July and August for export licenses for Nvidia’s H20, a chip tailored for China in response to U.S. restrictions imposed in 2023. In August, President Donald Trump and Huang struck a deal: Nvidia would receive licenses to sell H20s in exchange for 15% of all China H20 revenue going to the U.S. government.
Trump has hinted he might allow Blackwell exports under a similar framework, but only in a watered-down form.
“The Blackwell is super-duper advanced. I wouldn’t make a deal with that,” Trump said in August, before suggesting he might approve a “somewhat enhanced in a negative way” version.
Nvidia confirmed it has received some licenses but said Washington has not yet codified how the 15% revenue cut will be collected.
“USG officials have expressed an expectation that the USG will receive 15% of the revenue generated from licensed H20 sales, but to date, the USG has not published a regulation codifying such requirement,” said finance chief Colette Kress.
Revenue Boom Without China
Despite the uncertainty, Nvidia reported $54 billion in quarterly revenue, up 56% from a year ago — achieved without a single H20 sale to China. Instead, the company redirected $180 million in H20 inventory to a customer outside China, generating $650 million in sales.
Nvidia’s forecast for the quarter again excluded China H20 sales, but Kress said the company could sell between $2 billion and $5 billion worth of chips depending on geopolitics.
“If we had more orders, we can build more,” she added.
Blackwell, Rubin, and the Next Chips
In Taipei on Friday, Huang visited foundry partner TSMC, thanking the chipmaker for producing six new designs — including a next-generation GPU and a silicon photonics processor that will power Nvidia’s upcoming Rubin-architecture supercomputers.
“This is the first architecture in our history where every single chip is new and revolutionary,” Huang said. “We’ve taped out all of the chips.”
Reuters reported that Nvidia is already developing a Blackwell-based chip for China, tentatively named B30A, more powerful than the H20. Huang confirmed the company is in talks with Washington about offering a successor to the H20, though he stressed: “It’s up to, of course, the U.S. government, and we are in dialogue with them, but it is too soon to know.”
Beijing Pushback
Nvidia only resumed H20 sales in July after receiving Trump’s approval, but the chip quickly ran into new hurdles. Chinese regulators and state media raised security concerns, warning local firms against purchasing it. Nvidia has insisted its chips pose no backdoor risks.
In response to the warnings, Nvidia asked Foxconn, Amkor Technology, and Samsung Electronics to halt certain H20-related work. Foxconn had been assembling parts, Amkor handled packaging, and Samsung supplied high-bandwidth memory. Huang said Nvidia had sufficient inventory in place and would order more “when we receive the orders.”
“We constantly manage our supply chain to address market conditions,” an Nvidia spokesperson said. “As both governments recognize, the H20 is not a military product or for government infrastructure.”
The situation reflects Nvidia’s delicate balancing act: securing approvals in Washington while persuading Beijing that its chips are essential for China’s AI industry. Huang has argued that banning exports entirely would only accelerate the rise of Chinese competitors.