China Urges US to Ease Export Restrictions on AI Chips

China is urging the United States to relax export restrictions on crucial chips used in artificial intelligence as part of a trade agreement ahead of a potential meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, according to a report by the Financial Times. Chinese officials have reportedly communicated to experts in Washington their desire for the Trump administration to ease export controls on high-bandwidth memory chips. These chips, known as HBM chips, play a key role in speeding up data-intensive AI tasks and are closely monitored by investors for their integration with AI graphic processors like Nvidia’s NVDA.O. The concern stems from US controls on HBM chips, which are seen as limiting Chinese companies such as Huawei in developing their own AI chips. Previous US administrations have restricted the export of advanced chips to China in an effort to impede Beijing’s progress in AI and defense technologies. While this policy has affected US firms by limiting their ability to meet the growing demand from China, a significant semiconductor market, it continues to be a crucial revenue source for American chip manufacturers. The White House, State Department, and China’s foreign ministry did not respond immediately to requests for comments on the matter.