Nvidia will soon resume H20 AI chip exports to China after the U.S. government assures license approvals, reversing the April 2025 ban.
In a significant victory for the company, which has been adversely affected by U.S. export restrictions, Nvidia announced on Tuesday that it intends to recommence the sale of its H20 general processing units to China.
According to a filing in April, the U.S. government informed Nvidia that it would require a license to sell the processors to China, which effectively halted their sales. The H20 processors were specifically engineered to circumvent Beijing’s previous export restrictions.
“The U.S. government has assured NVIDIA that licenses will be issued, and the company anticipates that deliveries will commence shortly,” the company stated in a statement on Tuesday.
In recent months, Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, has intensified his advocacy against export controls, contending that they impede American technological leadership. Huang stated in May that Nvidia’s market share in China had been nearly halved due to semiconductor restrictions.
The prospective shift in U.S. policy resulted from a meeting between Huang and U.S. President Donald Trump last week.
During the discussions, the company stated that Huang had reiterated Nvidia’s support for the administration’s job creation and onshoring initiatives and the goal of positioning the United States as a global leader in artificial intelligence.
Last month, Washington and Beijing agreed on a preliminary trade framework permitting China to relieve its controls on rare-earth exports and the United States to relax its restrictions on technology exports.
Huang also disclosed the introduction of a new GPU, the RTX PRO, which he claimed was “fully compliant” and well-suited for automated factories and logistics. It was unclear whether the reference was to the GPU’s compliance with export regulations to China.
Reports have suggested that Nvidia has been developing a new AI processor for the Chinese market since May. This chip would be less advanced than the H20.
Nevertheless, Ray Wang, the research director of semiconductors, supply chain, and emerging technology at Futurum Group, informed CNBC that the prospective resumption of H20 chips to China is a surprise.
“The lifting of the H20 ban is a significant and positive development for Nvidia, as it will allow the company to solidify its leadership in China further,” Wang stated..
“The upcoming rollout of new export control-compliant AI chips for the Chinese market, in conjunction with the resumption of H20 shipments, should serve as a new growth catalyst in the coming quarters,” he continued.
At 12:20 a.m. ET, Nvidia shares were up 4.5% on Robinhood, a trading platform.
Nvidia also confirmed on Tuesday that Huang was in China and had met with government and industry officials to discuss the advantages of AI and methods for researchers to foster the development of safe and secure AI.
Chip experts anticipated the implementation of export controls on the H20 chip in April to be advantageous for local Nvidia alternatives, including Huawei.
Nevertheless, despite the advancements made in China’s AI chip environment, it continues to lag behind the capabilities of chip foundries such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Nvidia.
In an interview with CNBC’s “The China Connection” on Tuesday, Louise Loo, the chief economist for China at Oxford Economics, stated that the H20 export controls could be reversed to give Chinese manufacturers additional time to anticipate advancements in China’s indigenous technology.
“We are aware that manufacturers in China are favoring these Nvidia chips based on our discussions with clients and market participants,” she continued.
