Trump's move on Nvidia and China is 'selling out our national security,' Elizabeth Warren says

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is rebuking President Donald Trump's decision to let Nvidia sell its advanced artificial intelligence chips to China as "selling our national security."

Addressing the Senate floor on Thursday, the Massachusetts Democrat condemned the move as posing "a serious threat to our technological leadership and national security."

Trump announced earlier this week that American chipmaker Nvidia will be permitted to export the H200, its second-best generation of AI processors, to China. The decision reverses longstanding restrictions aimed at limiting Beijing’s access to advanced computing hardware and has drawn intense bipartisan backlash.

Under the new framework, the U.S. government will collect roughly 25% of the revenue generated from these sales and require that all shipments go to “approved customers” subject to security reviews by the Commerce Department. This decision came after Trump discussed the plan with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who “responded positively!” the president wrote in a Truth Social post.

Nvidia has welcomed the policy adjustment, arguing it supports U.S. jobs, manufacturing, and taxpayers, and that sales will remain tightly regulated, reports Reuters. The company told the outlet that exports to China will still require U.S. government approval and represent only a small fraction of Nvidia’s global advanced chip shipments.

"America's foreign competitors and the Administration's critics are pushing the same end — to force massive commercial markets to support and promote foreign competition," the company told Reuters.

However, during Thursday's remarks, Warren noted that shortly before Trump announced his decision, The Department of Justice had boasted about cracking down on a "major China-linked AI tech smuggling network."

"So why did the President make this bad deal that sells out the American economy and sells out American national security?" she asked. "It's simple: In the Trump administration, money talks."

Warren repeated her calls for Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify before Congress about the deal and whether it might conflict with enforcement actions taken by the DOJ against the illegal chip-smuggling network.

Opposition on both sides of the aisle

Some Republicans have also expressed concern that enabling shipments of H200 hardware to Chinese entities could accelerate Beijing’s AI development and military applications.

"Alarm bells go off in my head here," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) told CNBC Tuesday. "I don't mind doing normal business with China. But if you can prove to me this will accelerate their military capability, I'll oppose it."

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo) told reporters that "China's progress on AI is almost entirely parasitic on our technology, in particular on our hardware," adding that "If [we]want to beat China, I think we need to constrain their ability to leverage our own technology.

The reaction represents an unusual moment of bipartisan unease over technology exports that policymakers had previously restricted to preserve U.S. competitive advantages.

China is reportedly weighing how to respond to the new policy. Sources told the Financial Times that Chinese regulators may still impose their own constraints on H200 access, requiring strict approvals or prioritizing domestic chip development — an effort to bolster self-sufficiency even as U.S. firms seek entry into the market.

Yet, there's reportedly been robust demand from Chinese companies, as Nvidia contemplates boosting production of H200 chips in response, sources told Reuters in a Friday report.