US clears Nvidia to resume H200 AI chip sale to China under certain restrictions

The US Commerce Department on Tuesday gave a green signal to China-bound sales of Nvidia’s second most powerful AI chips, but with certain restrictions that will kickstart shipments of the H200, following through on a policy shift announced last month by President Donald Trump.  

The change would permit Nvidia to sell its powerful H200 chip to Chinese buyers if certain conditions are met — including proof of “sufficient” US supply — while sales of its most advanced processors would still be blocked.

Chips will be reviewed before shipping 

According to the regulations, the chips will be reviewed by a third-party testing lab to confirm their technical AI capabilities before they can be shipped to China, which cannot receive more than 50 per cent of the total amount of chips sold to American customers.

However, uncertainty has grown over how much demand there will be from Chinese companies, as Beijing has reportedly been encouraging tech companies to use homegrown chips.  

More from Tech

AI hallucination: The math behind the beautiful lies by chatbots Meta confirms over 1,000 job cuts as 3 VR studios shut down

Sufficient security procedures 

Nvidia will need to certify there are enough H200s in the US, while Chinese customers must demonstrate “sufficient security procedures” and cannot use the chips for military purposes. Those conditions had not been established previously.

In a statement, Nvidia said the move by US President Donald Trump “strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America” and will help the company compete in the global chip market.  

“The administration’s critics are unintentionally promoting the interests of foreign competitors on US entity lists - America should always want its industry to compete for vetted and approved commercial business, supporting real jobs for real Americans,” Nvidia said.

The Information had previously reported that Chinese officials were calling on companies there to pause H200 purchases while they deliberated requiring them to buy a certain ratio of AI chips made by Nvidia rivals in China.

Quick Reads

View All

AI hallucination: The math behind the beautiful lies by chatbots

Meta confirms over 1,000 job cuts as 3 VR studios shut down

H200s are roughly 18 months behind the US company’s most state-of-the-art offerings, which will still be off-limits to China.

Approval under special circumstances 

Chinese officials have informed some firms they would only approve buying H200 chips under special circumstances, such as development labs or university research, news website The Information reported Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

The Information had previously reported that Chinese officials were calling on companies there to pause H200 purchases while they deliberated requiring them to buy a certain ratio of AI chips made by Nvidia rivals in China.

(With inputs from agencies)