Beijing plans to restrict access to Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips, even though U.S. President Donald Trump approved their export to China, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Regulators in Beijing have been discussing ways to permit limited access to the H200, Nvidia’s second-best generation of artificial intelligence chips, according to the report.
Hurdle For U.S.
Such a move would add a hurdle to Nvidia and other top U.S. chipmakers’ ability to address the China market, after Trump’s Monday announcement appeared to settle a debate over whether these companies should keep their global lead by selling AI chips to China or withhold shipments.
Nvidia shares, which had risen as much as 2% in premarket trading, pared gains after the report and were last up about 0.6%. The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.
Beijing has been pushing back against domestic firms’ use of U.S. technology, especially Nvidia chips, as it retaliates against American restrictions.
Earlier U.S. restrictions banned the sale of advanced AI processors to China, weighing on Nvidia’s ability to grow in one of the world’s largest markets for AI chips and development.
Tech Tensions Escalate
The export of the H200 chips will be permitted with a 25% fee levied on such sales, Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said the approval alone may have limited impact on Nvidia’s business in China unless it is allowed to export other chip lines such as Blackwell or Rubin.
Shares of AMD and Intel also pared gains and were last up about 0.3% in premarket trading. So far this year, Nvidia has gained nearly 40% compared with the S&P 500 benchmark index’s 16.4% rise in the same period.
(With inputs from Reuters)
