BANGKOK (AP) 鈥 Nvidia鈥檚 CEO Jensen Huang says the technology giant has won approval from the Trump administration to sell its advanced H20 computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence to China.
The news came in a company blog post late Monday, which stated that the U.S. government had 鈥渁ssured" Nvidia that licenses would be granted 鈥 and that the company 鈥渉opes to start deliveries soon.鈥 Shares of the California-based chipmaker were up over 4% by midday Tuesday.
Huang also spoke about the coup on China鈥檚 state-run CGTN television network, in remarks shown on X.
鈥淭oday, I'm announcing that the U.S. government has approved for us filing licenses to start shipping H20s,鈥 Huang told reporters in Beijing.
He added that half of the world's AI researchers are in China. 鈥淚t's so innovative and dynamic here in China that it's really important that American companies are able to compete and serve the market here," he said.
Huang recently met with President Donald Trump and other U.S. policymakers 鈥 and is in Beijing this week to attend a supply chain conference and speak with Chinese officials. The broadcast showed Huang meeting with Ren Hongbin, the head of the China Council for Promotion of International Trade, host of the China International Supply Chain Expo, which Huang was attending. Nvidia is an exhibitor.
Nvidia has profited enormously from the rapid adoption of AI, becoming the first company to have its market value surpass $4 trillion last week. However, the trade rivalry between the U.S. and China has been weighing heavily on the industry.
Here's what we know.
What is Nvidia's H20 chip?
The H20 graphics processing unit, or GPU, is an advanced AI chip 鈥 used to build and update a range of AI systems. But it's less powerful than Nvidia's today.
That's because the H20 chip was developed to specifically comply with U.S. restrictions for exports of AI chips to China. Nvidia's most advanced chips, which carry more computing power, are off-limits to the Chinese market.
Washington has been tightening controls on exports of advanced technology to China for years, citing concerns that know-how meant for civilian use could be deployed for military purposes. And in January, before Trump began his second term in office, President Joe Biden's administration launched a for exporting advanced computer chips used to develop AI 鈥 in an attempt to balance national security concerns about the technology with the economic interests of producers and other countries.
Restrictions on sales of advanced chips to China have been central to the AI race between the world's two largest economic powers, but such controls are also controversial. Proponents argue that these restrictions are necessary to slow China down enough to allow U.S. companies to keep their lead. Meanwhile, opponents say the export controls have loopholes 鈥 and could still spur innovation. The emergence of China鈥檚 AI chatbot in January particularly renewed concerns over how China might use advanced chips to help develop its own AI capabilities.
What's happened since Trump took office?
In April, just months after Trump took office, the White House announced that it would to China 鈥 as well as MI308 chips from rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices.
At the time, the Trump administration again cited national security. But Nvidia said these tighter export controls would cost the company an extra $5.5 billion 鈥 and Huang and other technology leaders have been lobbying Trump to reverse the restrictions since. They've argued that such limits hinder U.S. competition in a sector in one of the world鈥檚 largest markets for technology, and have also warned that U.S. export controls could end up pushing other countries toward China鈥檚 AI technology.
Monday's announcement from Nvidia signals that its lobbying efforts paid off. But Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday that the renewed sale of H20 chips in China was linked to a made between the two countries on rare earth magnets 鈥 and maintained that the administration was also reversing course from April's restrictions because the U.S. still doesn't sell China 鈥渙ur best stuff.鈥
Still, the exact timing of the H20 chip's re-entry into the Chinese market remains unknown. It's also unclear whether AMD will similarly see restrictions lifted for its MI308 chips. AMD didn鈥檛 immediately return an emailed request for comment Tuesday about how Trump鈥檚 policies would affect its chip sales.
Meanwhile, calls for restrictions on advanced chip exports to China have persisted among U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Just last week, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Jim Banks wrote a letter to Huang noting that the hardware powering advanced AI 鈥渋s of immense strategic importance" 鈥 and again warned that this kind of technology could be used to accelerate Beijing鈥檚 effort to modernize its military if exported freely. U.S. lawmakers have also proposed that chips subject to export controls should be tracked, to ensure they don鈥檛 end up in the wrong places.
Beyond export controls, California-based Nvidia 鈥 like other tech giants today 鈥 has been caught in the crosshairs of Trump鈥檚 tariff wars abroad, particularly amid . But Beijing and Washington recently agreed to . China says it鈥檚 approving permits for rare earth magnets to be exported to the U.S., while Washington has lifted curbs on chip design software and jet engines.
Nvidia and its CEO have also garnered Trump鈥檚 favor in recent months. In April, the company announced that it would be producing its AI chips , starting with more than one million square feet of manufacturing space to build and test its specialized Blackwell chips in Arizona and AI supercomputers in Texas.
Trump was quick to applaud Nvidia's move. He Huang as a 鈥渟mart cookie鈥 who was helping bring jobs to the U.S. at an 鈥淚nvesting in America鈥 event held at the White House later that month.
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Grantham-Philips reported from New York. AP Writers Didi Tang in Washington, D.C., Matt O'Brien in Providence, Rhode Island and AP researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed.
