The US has approved the sale of Nvidia H200 chips to 10 Chinese firms, but sources say they’re still waiting for the go-ahead from China itself
The United States has approved the sale of Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence graphics processors to ten Chinese firms, marking a significant development amid ongoing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. The H200 is Nvidia’s second most powerful AI GPU, and the approval represents a notable shift in US export policy toward China, particularly given that Nvidia reported zero percent market share in China only months earlier.
The approval follows a diplomatic trade mission in which US President Donald Trump traveled to China with a delegation of major tech industry leaders, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Tesla founder Elon Musk, and representatives from Qualcomm and Micron Technology. However, despite the US authorization, sources indicate that the sales remain pending final approval from the Chinese government, which must also sanction the transactions before they can proceed.
The arrangement is limited in scope, with only ten firms eligible to receive the H200 chips under the current approval. This restriction reflects the delicate balance the US is attempting to maintain between facilitating technology trade and addressing national security concerns related to advanced semiconductor exports. The approval suggests ongoing negotiations between the two countries to establish new frameworks for technology commerce despite the broader geopolitical tensions that have characterized recent US-China relations.
The development underscores the strategic importance of AI hardware in global markets and the complex interplay between trade policy, national security, and corporate interests in the technology sector.