Nvidia gets US licence for small amount of H200 chip exports to China

The licence was granted subject to inspection in the US and a 25 per cent duty. Read more at straitstimes.com.

WASHINGTON - Nvidia said it secured a licence to ship a small number of its less advanced H200 chips to customers in China, inching forward in its bid to return to the world’s largest semiconductor market.

The leading maker of artificial intelligence accelerators said that the US government granted it a licence for H200 shipments, subject to inspection in the US and a 25 per cent duty.

But it is still unclear whether Beijing will allow even that limited return, and Nvidia said on Feb 25 that it was not including any China data centre revenue in its first-quarter sales outlook.

Nvidia’s shares were little changed in after-hours trading.

“While small amounts of H200 products for China-based customers were approved by the US Government, we have yet to generate any revenue, and we do not know whether any imports will be allowed into China,” chief financial officer Colette Kress told investors on an earnings call.

A political stand-off between Beijing and Washington has restricted Nvidia’s ability to sell its best chips in China, which represents an AI chip market that Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang has said could reach about US$50 billion in the coming years.