China wants US to ease AI chip-export controls for trade deal

(Reuters): China reportedly wants the U.S. to relax export controls on chips critical for artificial intelligence as part of a trade deal before a possible summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, according to the Financial Times (FT) on Sunday.

Chinese officials have told experts in Washington that Beijing wants the Trump administration to ease export restrictions on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

The White House, State Department and China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report.

HBM chips, which help perform data-intensive AI tasks quickly, are closely watched by investors due to their use alongside AI graphic processors, particularly Nvidia’s.

The FT said China is concerned because the U.S. HBM controls hinder the ability of Chinese companies, such as Huawei, to develop their own AI chips.

Successive U.S. administrations have curbed the exports of advanced chips to China, aiming to hinder Beijing’s development of AI and defense capabilities.

While this has impacted U.S. firms’ ability to fully address booming demand from China, one of the world’s largest semiconductor markets, it still remains a significant revenue driver for American chipmakers.