Gavin Newsom Says Trump Making Gaming More Expensive Amid Chip Price Surge

Benzinga · 01/01 11:18

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) slammed President Donald Trump for making gaming expensive as chipmakers mull price hike amid semiconductor tariffs.

Trump Making Gaming Worse

Taking to the social media platform X on Wednesday, Newsom's official press office handle quoted a post by a YouTuber that shared that Sony Group Corp. (NYSE:SONY) was reportedly delaying the launch of the PlayStation 6 gaming console due to concerns about the rising chip prices, citing a report by Insider Gaming.

The White House did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for a comment.

"The Trump Admin is making gaming worse and more expensive," the post said.

The office also slammed Trump in a separate post, which claimed that Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) were mulling raising prices of GPUs. "The "Gaming" President strikes again!" Newsom's press office said in the post.

Trump's Semiconductor Tariffs

The comments come amid the Trump administration's decision to keep tariffs on semiconductor imports from China pending, sharing that the tariffs have been delayed until June 23, 2027. The exact tariff rate will be disclosed at least 30 days before implementation.

Chinese authorities have voiced strong opposition to the planned tariffs. The government said it was also reviewing potential shipments of one of Nvidia's most powerful AI chips to China—a move that has raised concerns among U.S. policymakers about military applications.

Nvidia's Supply Crunch

Meanwhile, the chipmaker is facing strong Chinese demand for its H200 AI chips, but is currently grappling with limited chip capacity and regulatory uncertainty.

To ease the strain, the company has urged its supplier, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:TSM), to increase production.

Nvidia has reportedly received orders for over 2 million H200 chips for 2026, which has, in turn, created a supply crunch for Nvidia, which had only 700,000 units available.

Social media platform TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is also investing heavily in its artificial intelligence spending, with the company reportedly planning to allocate over 100 billion yuan (approximately $14 billion) to acquire Nvidia chips next year.

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