Lutnick Took a Softer Line on Nvidia as Calls for Tougher Controls Grew

There is broad agreement among most senior Trump administration officials that the United States should more aggressively tighten controls on Nvidia’s advanced chips to keep China from using them to catch up in the race to dominate artificial intelligence. Then there is Howard Lutnick, who runs the Commerce Department. Over the past year, Mr. Lutnick has frequently clashed with top officials over how to regulate sales of advanced technology, particularly Nvidia’s chip sales to Asia. That has drawn accusations from others in the administration and in Congress that the Commerce…