OpenAI Stayed Quiet on China Chip Sales to Keep Nvidia Happy, Report Finds

OpenAI has kept its mouth shut about advanced chip sales to China — and Nvidia is the reason, according to The Information. Executives at the ChatGPT maker avoided committing to a definitive public position on the exports over fears it could alienate their crucial chip supplier, the outlet reported Tuesday. The reticence arrives just as Democrats take control of Congress, a shift that could reshape restrictions shaping the US-China AI race.

Nvidia, for its part, reportedly leaned on its sway inside the Trump administration to lobby conservative think tanks in Washington, per The Information. One organization was told the company's donation was a tough sell internally after a fellow there criticized Nvidia's China relationship. Nvidia pushed back hard on the framing, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation that it is the vanguard of America's AI effort and proud to honor longstanding US policy.

The chipmaker's argument: America cannot win the AI race unless its AI infrastructure wins worldwide. If the world's clouds run on foreign-made chips, the company says, the model and application layers get built abroad too. Washington already let Nvidia sell H200 chips to China in a limited capacity in December 2025.

OpenAI insists its public line is unchanged. Chris Lehane, the company's chief global affairs officer, told The Information that OpenAI supports strengthening export controls, saying they help build AI on democratic rails and give the US and allies time to shore up safety standards and oversight. OpenAI did not immediately respond to the DCNF's request for comment.

The fight has gotten loud on Capitol Hill. Rep. Brian Mast, the Florida Republican chairing the House Foreign Affairs Committee, went after Jensen Huang on X, accusing the Nvidia CEO and his paid minions of fighting to sell millions of advanced AI chips to Chinese military-linked companies like Alibaba and Tencent. Mast was referencing a right-wing influencer campaign Nvidia reportedly coordinated to kill the AI OVERWATCH Act — his bill to restrict advanced AI chip sales to countries of concern and require Commerce Department sign-off.

And Nvidia is not the only one feeling the squeeze. Under pressure from Trump officials over Chinese access to chips, Oracle terminated a $7 billion contract with Tencent on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The deal would have leased 100,000 advanced AI chips to the Chinese tech giant from Oracle's Asia data centers over five years, despite Washington's export restrictions.