Nvidia gets Beijing’s nod for H200 chip sales, adapts Groq chip for China: sources

[NEW YORK] Nvidia has won Beijing’s approval to sell its second-most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China and is also preparing a version of the Groq AI chip that can be sold to the Chinese market, sources familiar with the matter said.

The long-awaited regulatory approval paves the way for the US chipmaker to resume sales of the H200 chips, which have emerged as a major flashpoint in US-China relations, in a market that once generated 13 per cent of Nvidia’s total revenue.

Despite strong demand from Chinese firms and US approval for exports, Beijing’s hesitation to allow imports has been the main barrier to shipments of the H200 chips to China.

Earlier on Tuesday (Mar 17), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that it had been licensed for “many customers in China” for the H200 and had received purchase orders from “many” companies, allowing it to resume production of the chip.

“Our supply chain is getting fired up,” Huang said at a press conference.

The company had halted production of the chip last year because of increasing regulatory hurdles in the US and China, according to a report at the time.

Nvidia had been waiting for licenses from both the US and China for months. It has received some US approvals, and a source familiar with the matter said that the company had now also received licenses for many customers in China from Beijing.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said that they were “not aware of the specifics”, and directed questions to “the competent authorities”.

CNBC also reported on Tuesday that Huang told them the company now has clearance from both the US and China.

SEE ALSO

Nvidia CEO says company is firing up H200 production for China

Nvidia expects to make US$1 trillion from AI chips through 2027

Nvidia invests US$2 billion in Nebius in new data centre deal

A Chinese company source said that they did not know if the Chinese government had given final approval, but that Nvidia had told them that they could now place purchase orders.

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission late last month, Nvidia said that the US had granted a license in February that would allow “small amounts of H200 products to specific China-based customers”.

In January, Reuters reported that China granted preliminary approval to three of its largest tech companies – ByteDance, Tencent and Alibaba – along with AI startup DeepSeek to import the chips, although the regulatory conditions for China’s approvals were still being finalised.

The Chinese companies did not immediately respond to e-mailed requests for comment.

Nvidia readies Groq chip for China

Nvidia is also preparing a version of the Groq AI chip that can be sold to the Chinese market, Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

It plans to tap Groq chips for what is known as inference, where AI systems answer questions, write code or carry out tasks for users. In the products Nvidia showed this week, the company plans to use its forthcoming Vera Rubin chips, which cannot be sold in China, in combination with the Groq chips.

While Nvidia dominates the market for training AI systems, it faces much more competition in the inference market. Several major Chinese firms, including AI heavyweights such as Baidu, already produce their own inference chips.

The chips being readied for China are not downgraded versions or made specifically for the Chinese market, one of the sources told Reuters. But the new variant can be adapted to work with other systems, the source said, adding that the Groq chip is expected to be available in May.

Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. REUTERS