“Trump lifted export controls on AI chips last year and bought NVIDIA stock.”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Soo-jin = Controversy was raised that U.S. President Donald Trump bought stocks of Nvidia, a leading AI semiconductor company that directly benefited from the easing of export controls on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors.

The British Guardian reported on the 13th (local time) that President Trump bought Nvidia stocks just before the former Joe Biden administration abolished regulations in May last year to control high-tech semiconductors destined for countries that were not allies or friends, such as China.

According to the anti-corruption group Declaptocrash cited by the Guardian, President Trump purchased 1 to 5 million dollars (about 1.33 billion to 6.68 billion won) worth of Nvidia stocks just days before the abolition of the policy.

It was revealed that President Trump also purchased stocks of other information technology (IT) companies such as Apple, Meta, and Microsoft at the time.

The Biden administration established an AI semiconductor export control system named 'Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion' in January 2025, at the end of its administration.

This system classifies countries around the world into ▲ allied and partner countries such as South Korea ▲ general countries ▲ countries of concern such as China, Russia, and North Korea, and differentially controls exports of AI semiconductors according to the grades.

If this regulation is implemented, it will be difficult for China, a country of concern, to narrow the technology gap by importing semiconductors from American companies.

However, the Trump administration announced plans to abolish the regulation, saying it hinders American innovation and places an excessive regulatory burden on companies. In addition, dozens of countries were downgraded to second-class diplomatic relations, which was abolished, saying it could worsen diplomatic relations.

The Guardian said, "If the AI ​​proliferation framework had been implemented, Nvidia would have been restricted from selling products to China, one of its largest markets," and added, "Nvidia's stock price rose immediately after President Trump announced the withdrawal of the regulations and immediately after he purchased the stock."

The Guardian reported that President Trump purchased Nvidia stock at least three times immediately after he announced that Nvidia would allow the sale of H200 chips to China in December 2025.

It is expected that President Trump's conflict of interest controversy will fuel a series of suspicions after former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was confirmed to have a romantic relationship with a Chinese spy.

Former CEO Hwang is suspected of having indirectly exported large quantities of Nvidia's cutting-edge semiconductors to China or leaked Nvidia's trade secrets or U.S. national secrets through Ellis Hwang, who is suspected of being a Chinese spy.

President Trump is embroiled in controversy over whether he ignored this risk despite knowing it because of his personal relationship with former CEO Hwang or his personal interests.

The opposition Democratic Party, which will control the U.S. Congress starting next year, has begun procedures to officially investigate allegations of political-business collusion between President Trump and former CEO Hwang and the results thereof.

Declaptocrash pointed out, “The United States must seriously address whether President Trump has indulged in corruption and attempted to hand over the technology of the entire AI industry to China by discussing how a suspected Chinese spy manipulated White House policy in favor of one AI company.”