BEIJING: The United States has cleared around 10 Chinese firms to buy Nvidia Corp’s second-most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) chip, the H200, but not a single delivery has been made so far, three people familiar with the matter say, leaving a major technology deal in limbo as chief executive officer Jensen Huang seeks a breakthrough in China this week.
Huang, who was not initially listed in a White House delegation to Beijing, joined the trip after an invitation from US President Donald Trump, a source said.
Trump picked him up in Alaska en route to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, raising hopes that the trip could finally unlock stalled efforts to sell the H200 chips in China.
The stakes are significant, highlighting how the US-China tech rivalry is now snarling even approved trade, leaving the world’s most valuable company and dominant chipmaker caught between duelling national priorities.
Before US export curbs tightened, Nvidia commanded about 95% of China’s advanced chip market.
China once accounted for 13% of its revenue, and Huang has previously estimated the country’s AI market alone would be worth US$50bil this year.
The US Commerce Department has approved around 10 Chinese companies including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd, ByteDance Ltd and JD.com Inc to purchase Nvidia’s H200 chips, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
A handful of distributors including Lenovo Group Ltd and Foxconn Technology Group have also been approved, they said.
Buyers are permitted to purchase either directly from Nvidia or through those intermediaries and each approved customer can purchase up to 75,000 chips under the US licensing terms, two of them said.
Beijing’s hesitation reflects a strategic calculation, as it fears imports could weaken a push to develop homegrown AI chips.
While China’s AI chips still lag Nvidia, firms like DeepSeek increasingly tout their reliance on domestic chips including those developed by Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
The pivot to Huawei underscores Nvidia’s precarious position in China. — Reuters
