Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Nvidia has said the Trump administration has relaxed restrictions on exporting a key artificial intelligence product designed specifically for the Chinese market, saying it hoped to resume deliveries of its H20 chip “soon”.
The US chipmaker on Tuesday said it had received assurances from the US government that it would approve licences for the H20, while announcing plans to release a new China-specific AI chip.
Nvidia reported a $4.5bn charge in the first quarter after Washington restricted its ability to sell its H20 chip to China in April, which had been designed to comply with a previous version of export controls on advanced semiconductors.
The assurances come after intense lobbying by the US chipmaker, warning that America risked forfeiting its leadership in AI to Chinese companies, including Huawei, by cutting off exports of critical technology.
“We believe that every civil model should run best on the US technology stack, encouraging nations worldwide to choose America,” Nvidia’s chief Jensen Huang said in a statement on Tuesday.
Huang is in Beijing meeting government officials and Chinese customers this week to give them an update on how it plans to address the local market. The trip follows a meeting between Huang and President Trump, where Nvidia’s commitment to investing in US manufacturing was discussed, the company said.
Huang is seeking talks with Premier Li Qiang this week, who would be the most senior Chinese official he has met to date, as the chief executive takes on an increasingly diplomatic role navigating US-China tech competition.
Nvidia also announced plans to release a new gaming graphic processing unit (GPU) for the Chinese market that is compliant with US export controls. Last week, the FT reported news of Nvidia’s plans to release an updated chip designed for China, based on its Blackwell RTX Pro 6000 processor.
Nvidia’s gaming chips have become a popular option for developers to run small Al models, given difficulties purchasing the company’s chips tailored for Al workloads.
Huang said the new chip could be used for applications including advanced manufacturing and logistics.
The H20 chip is less powerful than its top-of-the-range GPUs, but still saw strong demand in China, particularly in the wake of DeepSeek’s R1 model release in January, which caused a surge in AI usage in the country.
Beijing has taken steps to encourage the purchasing of local AI chips from rivals, including Huawei and smaller companies, including Cambricon and Biren. But Nvidia’s AI chip remains the preferred option for AI workloads, given its strong software ecosystem that makes it easier to train and run models.
The White House and the US Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Credit: Source link
