China banned the RTX 5090D V2 while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was visiting

Beijing banned Nvidia’s gaming device when the company’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, visited China with Donald Trump last week, the latest salvo in a powerful battle to dominate AI.

The chip was added to a list of goods banned from customs in China last Friday, according to a copy of the document seen by the FT and two people familiar with the matter.

The move shows Beijing’s determination to keep Nvidia’s chips under control, especially bad models designed to comply with US regulations. The Chinese government wants to help domestic chipmakers such as Huawei and Cambricon as they face off against US rivals.

Nvidia’s chip, known as the RTX 5090D V2, was introduced last August to comply with US regulations. It was aimed at Chinese gamers and 3D video makers, but it was also bought by AI developers, cut to the highest quality Nvidia products.

Nvidia’s Huang said on Monday that he believes the Chinese market will be accessible to US chip suppliers. “My opinion is that over time, the market will open up,” he told Bloomberg TV.

Sales of some of Nvidia’s chips including the H200 and H20, another Chinese product that Nvidia previously marketed, have been blocked by Beijing even as the Trump administration has approved sales to Chinese technology groups such as Alibaba and Tencent.