US gives green light for Nvidia H200 chips to be exported to China
(Photo credit: Reuters)
Source: The Straits Times
The Trump administration on Jan 13 gave a formal green light to China-bound sales of Nvidia’s second most powerful AI chips, putting in place a rule that will likely kick-start shipments of the H200 despite deep concerns among China hawks in Washington.
According to the regulations, the chips will be reviewed by a third-party testing lab to confirm their technical artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities before they can be shipped to China, which cannot receive more than 50 per cent of the total amount of chips sold to American customers.
Nvidia will need to certify there are enough H200s in the United States, while Chinese customers must demonstrate “sufficient security procedures” and cannot use the chips for military purposes.
Nvidia and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
US President Donald Trump announced in December that he would allow the chip sales in exchange for a 25 per cent fee for the US government. The decision drew fire from China hawks across the US political spectrum over concerns the chips would supercharge Beijing’s military and erode the US’ advantage in AI.
Such concerns had prompted the Biden administration to bar sales of advanced AI chips to China.
But the Trump administration, led by White House AI czar David Sacks, argues that shipping advanced AI chips to China discourages Chinese competitors – such as heavily sanctioned Huawei – from redoubling efforts to catch up with Nvidia and AMD’s most advanced chip designs.
When Mr Trump announced the sales in December, he said they would be exported to China “under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security”.
But questions have arisen around whether the administration would in practice impose any limits on the chip shipments, or even if Beijing would allow their sales domestically.
Reuters reported in December that the US had launched a review that could result in the first shipments of the chips to China.