Trump holding a press conference on board an airplane. Reuters=Yonhap News. 

U.S. President Donald Trump's stated intention to restrict NVIDIA's cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors to domestic use only, excluding exports, is drawing attention.

President Trump revealed this plan in an interview with CBS's news program '60 Minutes,' which was recorded on the 31st of last month and aired on the 2nd, as well as during a press conference with reporters on his flight back to Washington D.C. on the 2nd, after spending the weekend in Florida.

In his CBS interview, when asked by the host, "Will you allow NVIDIA to sell its most advanced semiconductors to China?", President Trump replied, "No, we will not do that."

He then added, regarding the sale of AI semiconductors to China, "We will let them (China) handle that issue with NVIDIA," showing a nuance that suggested some room for discretion.

However, President Trump immediately followed up by saying, "But when it comes to the cutting-edge, we will not do that," and stated, "We will not let anyone have (NVIDIA's AI semiconductors) except for us in the United States."

President Trump expressed a similar stance during a press conference on his private plane on the 2nd.

When asked about supplying NVIDIA's advanced AI semiconductor Blackwell to China and other countries, he said, "The new Blackwell that just came out is 10 years ahead of all other semiconductors," and added, "I will not give it to other people (countries)."

This was interpreted to mean that NVIDIA's most advanced AI semiconductors would not be sold to China or any other country.

If the Trump administration controls the export of NVIDIA's cutting-edge semiconductors, not only to China but also to allied nations, it could have an impact on the supply and demand of AI semiconductors in South Korea.

Previously, NVIDIA announced during CEO Jensen Huang's visit to South Korea last month that it would supply a total of 260,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) to South Korean companies, including the government, Samsung Electronics, SK Group, Hyundai Motor Group, and Naver Cloud.

NVIDIA stated at the time, "With the new Blackwell infrastructure, the total quantity of AI GPUs in South Korea will increase from 65,000 to over 300,000," adding, "This will lay the foundation for South Korea to become a world-class AI leader."

It was reported that among the 260,000 GPUs to be supplied to South Korea, a significant portion will be the latest 'GB200 Grace Blackwell,' with some 'RTX 6000 Series' also included.

Yonhap News