The Trump administration decided to stop its planned ban on Nvidia’s H20 HGX GPU exports to China after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang paid $1 million per seat for a dinner at Mar-a-Lago. NPR reports Huang made substantial U.S.-based AI infrastructure investment promises to the administration during their private meeting, which led to the administration’s withdrawal of export restrictions that were scheduled to begin this week.
The U.S. government worked for many months to implement restrictions on H20 GPU sales by Nvidia, but this top-performing AI GPU remained eligible for Chinese export. The H20 received U.S. export approval through Total Processing Performance (TPP) thresholds before the upcoming AI Diffusion Rule took effect on May 15 to prohibit almost all American AI processor exports to Chinese entities.
The AI Diffusion Rule contains an LPP exception that enables restricted GPU exports toward Tier 2 countries. China remains outside the export boundaries because its classification as high-risk makes all AI chips subject to licensing requirements, which the United States typically denies.
Nvidia currently faces a crucial dilemma because it allegedly sold $16 billion worth of H20 GPUs to China during Q1 2025. The export ban suspension prompts several inquiries about whether Nvidia will maintain shipments through May 15 or if the Trump administration discovered methods to circumvent or postpone the AI Diffusion Rule.
The administration will need to modify the Biden rule, approve Nvidia-specific licenses, or remove the regulation altogether to allow exports after May 15, which will transform the U.S.-China tech environment.
