| A company riding as high as Nvidia hardly needs a positive surprise. A week after the AI-chip giant hit a $4 trillion market capitalization—the first company to cross that threshold—it nevertheless got one. Chief executive Jensen Huang said Monday night that the U.S. was going to allow it to resume shipments of chips to China, after the Trump administration restricted them in April. Nvidia's shares jumped more than 3% Tuesday morning. That comes after the stock had already more than recovered all the ground it lost after warning investors on April 15 that it was effectively banned from selling an AI processor called the H20 to the Chinese market. The company took a $4.5 billion charge in its April quarter to account for inventory of those chips, which couldn't be sold elsewhere due to their design. It also said at the time that the ban would cost it about $8 billion in lost revenue for the quarter ending later this month. A lot of that money will come back; Pierre Ferragu of New Street Research estimates the change will provide a "$10 billion tailwind" to Nvidia's sales for the current fiscal year. And in a move that could further boost revenue, Nvidia said it was planning a new and improved chip that complies with existing U.S. limits on China's access to the most powerful AI hardware. The loosening doesn't change the broader political dynamic Nvidia is caught up in, though. No matter how deft Huang has become at navigating the U.S.-China rivalry, the possibility of moves from either side that crimp or uncrimp sales will always be there. That's a testament to the company's central spot in the AI race, but also a reminder that market dominance begets scrutiny. | 
