China is urging the United States to relax export controls on artificial intelligence chips as part of trade negotiations ahead of a possible summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. According to the Financial Times, Chinese officials have conveyed to Washington experts that Beijing wants the Trump administration to ease restrictions on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips critical for AI.
HBM chips, essential for handling data-intensive AI tasks quickly, have become a key focus for investors, especially due to their use with AI graphic processors such as Nvidia’s NVDA.O. China’s concern stems from US export controls on these chips, which limit Chinese companies like Huawei from advancing their AI chip technology.
US administrations have maintained strict export controls on advanced chips to China in an effort to slow Beijing’s progress in AI and defense sectors. While these restrictions have affected US companies’ ability to fully capitalize on the growing Chinese semiconductor market, China remains a significant revenue source for American chipmakers.
The White House, State Department, and China’s foreign ministry have yet to comment on the report. As talks continue, the issue of easing export controls on AI chips remains a critical point in US-China trade discussions.