Boosting Nvidia’s bottom line won’t make Americans safer

IN DECIDING where to draw the line on sales of advanced semiconductors to China, the White House should prioritise the security of Americans over the interests of companies. Its latest moves risk getting that balance wrong.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump granted Nvidia permission to ship its H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, while loosening restrictions on rivals Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. Although not Nvidia’s most cutting-edge offering, the H200 is at least a generation ahead of Chinese-made alternatives.

The Institute for Progress noted that the chip provides 32 per cent more processing power and 50 per cent more memory bandwidth than the Ascend 910C, the best chip from Huawei Technologies. It is also cheaper to use and more reliable.