With Nvidia’s second-best AI chips on their way to China, the US is shifting its priorities from security to trade

This week, US President Donald Trump approved previously banned exports of Nvidia’s powerful H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China.

In return, the U.S. government receives 25% of sales revenue, which has become a hallmark of this government when it takes a cut in a private company’s revenue.

The H200 is Nvidia’s second most powerful AI processor. It is about six times more powerful than the H20 chips that were previously available to buyers in China.

These aren’t consumer gadgets that power the latest cat meme generator or help you with the weekly pub quiz. They are the computing engines behind advanced AI systems that increasingly power autonomous weapons. These include drone navigation systems, automatic gun emplacements and targeting algorithms in modern warfare.

Think less about the futuristic world of the Terminator films and more about the very real AI-powered targeting systems already in use, including in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.

In the end…