U.S. clears H200 sales to 10 firms

U.S. regulators have approved sales of Nvidia’s H200 artificial-intelligence chips to about 10 Chinese companies, Reuters reported on May 14, citing two people familiar with the matter. The approvals mark a paper opening for a product that sits above the China-focused H20 in Nvidia’s lineup, but the people said no shipments have been made. The gap leaves Chinese customers with licenses in hand but no added computing capacity in operation. Nvidia did not immediately begin deliveries after the approvals, according to the report. ### Which Chinese companies were approved to buy the chips? Reuters and Engadget said the approved buyers include Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, JD.com, Lenovo and Foxconn. Reuters said the total number of approved Chinese companies was about 10, citing people familiar with the matter. Engadget’s account, which attributed its report to Reuters, said the U.S. Commerce Department gave those companies permission to purchase Nvidia’s H200 processors. The report did not indicate that all approved firms had received hardware, and it said no shipments had taken place. ### Why is the H200 different from the H20 already tied to China? (engadget.com) Nvidia markets the H200 as a high-end data-center GPU for generative AI and high-performance computing. On its product page, the company says the chip uses HBM3E memory and is designed for large language models and other compute-heavy workloads. Nvidia’s China business has already been shaped by U.S. export controls on the H20. (engadget.com) The company said in its first-quarter fiscal 2026 results that the U.S. government informed it on April 9, 2025, that a license was required for exports of H20 products into China. Nvidia said that change led to a $4.5 billion charge tied to H20 excess inventory and purchase obligations, after it had recorded $4.6 billion in H20 sales in the quarter before the new requirement took effect. (nvidia.com) ### If approvals exist, why have no chips shipped? Reuters said the approvals have not yet translated into deliveries, according to two people familiar with the matter. That means the companies named in the approvals still cannot deploy H200 capacity in their data centers until export paperwork, logistics and final transfers are completed. (nvidianews.nvidia.com) U.S. export licenses can carry conditions tied to the item, end use and named parties in the application, according to Commerce Department export-control guidance. That framework helps explain why an approval notice does not automatically mean immediate shipment. ### Has China been approving buyers on its side, too? China had already begun clearing some domestic buyers earlier this year. (engadget.com) Engadget reported on January 30, again citing Reuters, that DeepSeek had received approval from Chinese authorities to purchase Nvidia H200 chips, and that ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent had also received permission. (space.commerce.gov) A separate Engadget report on January 28 said China had approved its first batch of H200 imports after earlier resistance to Nvidia’s H20 chips. That report also attributed the development to Reuters. ### What does Nvidia say about selling advanced chips into China? Nvidia said in a July 14, 2025 company blog post that it would resume H20 sales to China and was introducing a new China-compliant GPU. (engadget.com) The post said Chief Executive Jensen Huang had promoted AI in Washington and Beijing while discussing the role of U.S. technology in global markets. Huang has argued publicly that export bans can strengthen Chinese rivals such as Huawei by pushing customers toward local alternatives, according to earlier company statements and press reports. (engadget.com) Reuters’ May 14 report framed the H200 approvals as a potential breakthrough for Huang, but the report also said the absence of shipments means the change has not yet altered on-the-ground capacity. (blogs.nvidia.com) ### What happens next for the approved buyers? The next test is whether Nvidia converts the approvals into export shipments for the named Chinese customers. Reuters reported on May 14 that no H200 units had been delivered at the time of publication, leaving Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, JD.com, Lenovo, Foxconn and other approved buyers waiting for actual transfers. (engadget.com) (blogs.nvidia.com)