Nvidia (NVDA, Financials) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financials) are taking major steps to expand their footprint in artificial intelligence and data centers as the U.S. government holds off on new export restrictions and semiconductor stocks face turbulent trading.
Nvidia will continue selling its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China after the Trump administration decided against imposing new export restrictions, according to several media reports. The decision followed a meeting between Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang and President Donald J. Trump, easing investor fears that the company's access to one of its key markets would be curtailed.
The policy update came amid heightened volatility in semiconductor stocks. Nvidia shares surged nearly 19% on Wednesday after Trump announced a 90-day pause on most tariffs—excluding those targeting China—before falling 5.8% to close at $107.74 on Thursday.
The company also introduced its latest product, the Blackwell Ultra AI chips, at the recent GPU Technology Conference. The new chips aim to meet growing demand for high-performance computing power in AI development and are expected to further strengthen Nvidia's market position as competitors ramp up their own efforts.
AMD, meanwhile, closed a $4.9 billion acquisition of ZT Systems, a data-center hardware provider. The deal is expected to help AMD expand its product offerings for major cloud customers, including Microsoft (MSFT, Financials) and Meta Platforms (META, Financials), as it seeks to better compete with Nvidia in AI-driven infrastructure.
The company also announced a strategic partnership with Oracle (ORCL, Financials) to develop a large-scale AI computing cluster composed of 30,000 MI355X accelerators. The chips will be manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM, Financials) using its 3-nanometer process, and will feature AMD's new CDNA 4 architecture. AMD said the initiative is part of its broader “Advancing AI 2025” roadmap, which includes investments in new hardware, software platforms, and ecosystem development.
Despite these strategic advances, AMD stock dropped 9.6% on Thursday to $87.52 following a 23.8% gain on Wednesday—its largest single-day percentage jump in nearly a decade. The spike and subsequent dip reflect broader market reactions to U.S. trade policy uncertainty and concerns about competition and traction in the AI chip space.
Both companies are positioning themselves to benefit from long-term trends in artificial intelligence and cloud computing, although risks related to regulatory policy and competitive pressure remain in play.
