China has approved purchases of Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chip for the first time, authorizing sales to several major Chinese technology companies and breaking a months-long stalemate over access to advanced U.S. semiconductors.
People familiar with the matter said the initial approval covers several hundred thousand H200 chips, with a total value of roughly $10 billion. Among the first recipients are major firms including Alibaba and ByteDance, with additional approvals expected in the coming weeks.
The move coincided with a visit to China by Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, and follows a decision by the U.S. government late last year allowing the company to sell the chip to Chinese customers. While Washington cleared the way for exports, it had remained uncertain whether Beijing would permit domestic companies to complete the purchases.
Beijing’s decision signals a partial easing of technology tensions with the United States ahead of a planned April visit by Donald Trump to China and follows an October trade truce between the two countries. It also reflects China’s attempt to balance competing priorities: accelerating artificial intelligence development while continuing to promote a self-reliant semiconductor industry.
Chinese companies seeking to buy the chips were required to submit documentation explaining how the processors would be used. Authorities have indicated the chips should support necessary applications such as advanced AI research and development. At the same time, officials have continued to require that many AI workloads rely on domestically produced chips, particularly for inference tasks, and have encouraged companies to pair Nvidia purchases with commitments to use Chinese alternatives.
The approval clears a bottleneck that began last spring, when the U.S. initially banned sales of Nvidia’s H20 chip to China. Although Washington later reversed course, Beijing then blocked domestic purchases, citing cybersecurity concerns. Following an October meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the U.S. authorized sales of the more powerful H200 chip, subject to conditions including supply assurances for U.S. customers and security safeguards.
During the approval delay, Nvidia’s share of China’s AI chip market fell sharply, allowing Chinese competitors to expand by bundling less-powerful chips to increase computing capacity. While domestic developers have made progress, some researchers have warned that restricted access to top-tier chips could widen the AI gap with the United States.
Source: WSJ