Nvidia boss hopeful of China allowing chip sales

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang expressed optimism Thursday that Beijing will permit the sale to Chinese buyers of a powerful AI chip model made by the US tech giant.

Huang’s remarks came a day after the Wall Street Journal and others reported that Beijing had authorised several of Nvidia’s Chinese customers to buy the advanced chip.

The chip in question, the H200, can be used to train and run cutting-edge artificial intelligence systems.

It had been barred from sale in China by Washington over national security concerns, but last month US President Donald Trump said he had reached an agreement with China’s Xi Jinping to soften restrictions on the H200.

However, there has been uncertainty over whether the Chinese government would actually allow firms to buy them, because it has reportedly been encouraging Chinese tech companies to use domestically made chips instead.

“The actual licence for H200 is being finalised,” Huang told reporters in Taipei.

“I’m hoping… the Chinese government would allow Nvidia to sell (the) H200, so they have to decide, and I’m looking forward to a favourable decision,” he said.

“We’re looking forward to returning to China so that we can compete in the market. They have many very strong chip companies, and so we have to compete quite vigorously.”

With the United States and China locked in a fierce race for AI supremacy, Trump’s decision to allow H200 sales to China marked a significant shift in US export policy for AI chips.

The deal, under which the US government gets a 25-percent cut of sales, was confirmed by the US commerce department on January 13.

Nvidia’s most top-of-the-range chips, the Blackwell series and forthcoming Rubin processors, were not included in the agreement.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Chinese tech companies, including Alibaba and ByteDance, have been given the green light to receive the first batch of several hundred thousand H200 chips.

More imports were expected to be approved in the coming weeks, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

The move came during Huang’s recent visit to China, which reportedly included stops in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.

It comes ahead of Trump’s planned trip to Beijing in April for talks with Xi that are aimed at resolving trade disputes.