Nvidia gets unexpected China opening as chip with one massive catch. The Artificial Intelligence revolution has made Nvidia (NVDIA) one of the most valuable firms in the world. But for its Chief Executive Jensen Huang, the next phase of growth may hinge on something outside the company’s control: whether Washington and Beijing can agree on the rules of the AI chip trade. Reuters reported that the U.S. has approved 10 Chinese companies to buy Nvdia’s H200 Artificial Intelligence chips. the approved purchasers include Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance and JD. com, they said. Lenovo and Foxconn are licensed as distributors.
That sounds like a major breakthrough.
but there is a catch: no H200 deliveries have been made, leaving a potentially significant China revenue opportunity stuck between U.S. export rules and Beijing’s push to reduce dependence on foreign technology.
The announcement comes as Huang accompanied president Donald Trump on a trip to Beijing, sparking optimism that Nvidia could finally unlock a blocked China semiconductor contract.
Any deal that allows Nvidia to sell more chips to China means fewer Nvidia chips for U.S. firms, and a seller U.S. lead in AI over China. Chris Mcguire, senior fellow for China and emerges at the council on foreign relations, told Reuters.
- Nvidia’s China opportunity is too big to ignore
Before the U.S. tightened its export limits, Nvidia held almost 95% of the advanced chip market in China. China was formerly responsible for 13% of Nvidia’s revenue and Huang has estimated the country’s AI business might be worth $50 billion this year.
That’s why the H200 clearance is important. eve with no significant has managed to grow at a spectacular speed. the company forecast anticipates no data center compute revenue from China.
That makes China less about survival and more about upside.
