US reportedly allows 10 Chinese companies to buy NVIDIA's coveted H200 AI chips

Trending 3 weeks ago
Computer rendering of NVIDIA's H200.

NVIDIA

The US Commerce Department has reportedly fixed 10 Chinese firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, TikTok genitor institution ByteDance, retailer JD.com, Lenovo and Foxconn, nan support to acquisition NVIDIA's second-best H200 processors. According to Reuters, however, NVIDIA has yet to make a delivery. 

In December 2025, nan US authorities allowed NVIDIA to waste H200 processors to approved customers successful China, aft blocking its income owed to concerns that it would assistance nan improvement of nan country's subject technologies. China agreed to import respective 100 1000 H200 chips successful January, Reuters reported astatine nan time, pinch nan first shipments being meant for 3 unnamed Chinese net companies. 

The H200 is 1 of nan company's astir powerful AI chips, 2nd only to its high-end B200 processors. While nan B200 is faster, nan H200 is still a batch much tin than nan H20, which was cleared for nan Chinese marketplace half a twelvemonth earlier than nan H200. The approved companies for H200 tin bargain up to 75,000 chips either straight from NVIDIA aliases from intermediaries, but nan firms reportedly pulled backmost from making a acquisition aft getting guidance from nan Chinese government.

Reuters says China's guidance was triggered by changes connected nan US side, but it says those changes stay unclear. It's besides worthy noting that section Chinese companies person been processing their ain chips aft nan US blocked exports to their country. China has been encouraging section firms to usage them successful bid to stimulate nan homegrown spot industry. The Chinese authorities is besides reportedly worried that nan H200 chips sold to its companies person hidden vulnerabilities. That's because successful bid for nan US authorities to legally get its 25 percent cut from H200 sales, nan chips person to walk done US territory.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, who previously warned nan US authorities that its export restrictions are making his institution suffer its clasp connected China, precocious flew to Beijing pinch President Donald Trump to be a acme pinch Chinese President Xi Jinping. It remains to beryllium seen whether nan travel would lead to China giving section companies nan greenish ray to acquisition nan H200.

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Source engadget.com
engadget.com