The U.S. Department of Commerce has started granting export licences to Nvidia, opening the door for the sale of its H20 chips to China. This move removes a big hurdle for the firm – a key player in artificial intelligence – as it targets a crucial market.
This update follows the government’s reversal of an April ban that had restricted the sale of H20 chips to China. Nvidia had custom‑designed these GPUs for the Chinese market, aligning them with export controls implemented during the Biden era. Earlier warnings suggested these restrictions might slash its July quarter sales by about $8 billion.
Even now, the finer details remain under wraps. We don’t know how many licences have been issued, which Chinese companies will benefit, or the total export value. Notably, Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang recently met with former President Donald Trump, according to sources with insight into the conversation.
Nvidia has chosen not to comment further, and the White House has yet to respond to inquiries. The Financial Times first broke the story on these export licences, signalling a significant shift in policy.
