Nvidia has told clients it aims to start shipping its second most powerful chips—the H200—to China around mid-February, Reuters reports citing inside sources. This ironically comes just as the US has labelled Chinese semiconductors as an “economic threat” and vowed to impose tariffs on them by 2027.
Semiconductor chips are at the center of a US-China battle for dominance in the AI sector. US President Donald Trump’s approval of Nvidia’s desire to sell its second most powerful chips to China came as a surprise—especially as the announcement came right after CEO Jensen Huang said that China is just “a hair’s breadth” behind the US in AI development.
The US is sending mixed messages. On the one hand, Trump appears to be fine with China gaining access to advanced US technology—which will no doubt accelerate its advancement in the AI sphere—yet on the other hand, the US government has attempted to limit the flow of Chinese semiconductors into the US. Huang and others would no doubt argue that selling the H200 chips to China helps to maintain their dependence on American technology. The other side of the argument would say that’s short sighted.