Nvidia can once again export its H20 AI accelerator chip to China, following months of restrictions. The move marks a sharp reversal in US trade policy.
The company says it plans to resume sales of its H20 chip after receiving assurances from the US government that export licenses would be approved. The decision comes after the Trump administration had previously banned exports of the chip.
The H20 is a scaled-back version of Nvidia’s top AI chips, specifically designed to comply with earlier US export rules for the Chinese market. Despite these changes, sales were halted earlier this year, leading to reported losses in the billions from unsold inventory.
Pushback against export controls
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has repeatedly criticized US export restrictions in recent months. In May, he called the measures a failure that only helped Huawei gain ground. More recently, he argued that the US should not worry about China using Nvidia chips for military purposes, since China can’t reliably build on technology that could be cut off at any time.
Last week, Huang met directly with former President Trump and is currently in Beijing for a major supply chain expo. According to Nvidia customers, Huang has expressed confidence that export licenses will be granted soon.
Nvidia also plans to sell its RTX PRO GPUs to China. The company says this chip falls below the technical thresholds that would require special approval from Washington, making it fully compliant.
The developments highlight just how critical access to the Chinese market remains. A recent Bloomberg investigation found that 39 planned data centers in Xinjiang intend to use over 115,000 banned H100/H200 chips - despite ongoing export controls. The new, permitted chips may now serve as replacements. Earlier this week, Malaysia tightened its own export rules following reports of organized smuggling of Nvidia accelerators into China.
