Nvidia announced plans to resume sales of Nvidia H20 AI chips in mainland China a few days after its CEO met with US President Donald Trump, and Chinese companies are rushing to buy them, Reuters reports, citing two sources, writes UNN.
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Nvidia AI chips have become a key target of US export controls, designed to prevent the most advanced chips from reaching China for national security reasons. The American company, whose shares are publicly traded, said these restrictions would cut its revenue by $15 billion.
The world's most valuable company is applying to the US government to resume sales of H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) to China and expects to receive licenses soon, Nvidia said in a statement.
"The US government has assured Nvidia of license issuance, and Nvidia hopes to begin shipments soon," said the company, whose CEO Jensen Huang is visiting Beijing and will speak at an event on Wednesday.
The White House, which previously expressed concern that the Chinese military could use AI chips to develop weapons, did not respond to a request for comment.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Chinese companies are rushing to place orders for the chips, which Nvidia must then submit to the US government for approval. They added that internet giants ByteDance and Tencent are in the process of submitting applications.
According to one source, central to this process is a "whitelist" compiled by Nvidia to register Chinese companies as potential buyers.
Nvidia, which criticized the export restrictions imposed by the Trump administration in April that prevented it from selling the H20 chip in China, also announced the introduction of a new model adapted to the Chinese market.
"The Chinese market is huge, dynamic and highly innovative, and is home to many artificial intelligence researchers," Huang told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday.
"Therefore, it is really very important for American companies to gain a foothold in the Chinese market," he noted.
Nvidia shares, traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, jumped 3.2%.
At a regular press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, responding to a question about Nvidia's plans to resume sales of AI chips, a representative stated: "China opposes the politicization, instrumentalization, and use of science, technology, economy, and trade as weapons for the purpose of malicious blockade and suppression of China."