U.S. export restrictions on tech to China still exist. But on those items, Chinese companies can simply turn to friendlies in Singapore. Or, like the pirates of old, China can create a black market for chips. Some Nvidia chips faced export restrictions even in the Biden years.

Nvidia's CEO was recently asked about the rumors of "a secret pool of options" that he "randomly" gives to high-performing employees.

Trump said Monday that he has cut a deal with chipmaker Nvidia, allowing it to sell certain artificial intelligence chips to China in exchange for a cut of the revenue, which would go to the U.S. government. Trump said he also negotiated a similar deal with chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).