Nvidia's years-long lobbying campaign has finally paid off, as Beijing has approved the sale of hundreds of thousands of powerful Nvidia H200 AI chips to Chinese companies. The approval, which was granted during a visit by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to China, marks a significant shift in US tech policy.
The decision is a major blow to the Biden administration's efforts to restrict US chip exports to China due to national security concerns. Under President Trump, however, a different logic prevailed, with officials arguing that allowing China access to some American AI chips was better than ceding such a large and important market entirely to Chinese chipmakers.
According to Reuters, China has agreed to allow ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent to buy more than 400,000 of the chips in total under conditional licenses granted during Huang's visit. More approvals are expected in the coming weeks.
The sale is seen as a strategic move by Beijing, which seeks to achieve two goals at once: accessing powerful AI compute and keeping domestic companies dependent on US technology. However, experts argue that this approach may ultimately backfire, as it sends mixed signals about US intentions and emboldens China's burgeoning chip industry.
"The worst possible thing we can do is just go back and forth," says Samuel Bresnick, a research fellow at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology. "We have already given China the imperative to get their own chips going while also giving them access at the same time."
The approval marks a significant whiplash in Washington, where policymakers have sent mixed signals about chip controls for years. The real damage may stem from this ambiguity, as it leaves US authorities with little visibility into where the chips could ultimately end up.
Nvidia and the tech companies involved did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, the approval is seen as a major win for Huang and his team, who have been pushing for relaxed export controls on high-end AI chips.
As China continues to assert its dominance in the global semiconductor market, it remains to be seen how this development will play out in terms of national security and trade implications.
The decision is a major blow to the Biden administration's efforts to restrict US chip exports to China due to national security concerns. Under President Trump, however, a different logic prevailed, with officials arguing that allowing China access to some American AI chips was better than ceding such a large and important market entirely to Chinese chipmakers.
According to Reuters, China has agreed to allow ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent to buy more than 400,000 of the chips in total under conditional licenses granted during Huang's visit. More approvals are expected in the coming weeks.
The sale is seen as a strategic move by Beijing, which seeks to achieve two goals at once: accessing powerful AI compute and keeping domestic companies dependent on US technology. However, experts argue that this approach may ultimately backfire, as it sends mixed signals about US intentions and emboldens China's burgeoning chip industry.
"The worst possible thing we can do is just go back and forth," says Samuel Bresnick, a research fellow at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology. "We have already given China the imperative to get their own chips going while also giving them access at the same time."
The approval marks a significant whiplash in Washington, where policymakers have sent mixed signals about chip controls for years. The real damage may stem from this ambiguity, as it leaves US authorities with little visibility into where the chips could ultimately end up.
Nvidia and the tech companies involved did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, the approval is seen as a major win for Huang and his team, who have been pushing for relaxed export controls on high-end AI chips.
As China continues to assert its dominance in the global semiconductor market, it remains to be seen how this development will play out in terms of national security and trade implications.
... and I gotta say, I've been saying for ages that our tech policies are super messed up 
. I mean, you've got the US trying to restrict exports while also wanting China to use these high-end AI chips? It's like we're trying to strangle ourselves with rope while also begging for a hug 
.
. I'm not sure if it's a strategic move or just a big ol' mess, but one thing's for sure - this ambiguity in policy is gonna cause some major whiplash 
.
. Like, we're trying to control everything while also trying to keep up with their innovation 
. I'm not sure what the endgame is here, but one thing's for sure - it's gonna be a wild ride 
!
about Nvidia getting that approval! It's crazy how long they must've been lobbying for this 
We're already seeing them dominate in the global market, and now we're giving 'em a free pass to AI tech 
. It's like, how's that gonna play out in the long run? 
I guess only time'll tell... for now, it's all about Nvidia getting their chips on 
. But on the flip side, I'm also worried that this might just fuel China's chip-making ambitions even further 
Like, can't we just agree on something already? 