The U.S. has cleared around 10 Chinese firms to buy Nvidia's second-most powerful AI chip, the H200, but not a single delivery has been made so far, three people familiar with the matter said, leaving a major technology deal in limbo as CEO Jensen Huang seeks a breakthrough in China this week.
Huang, who was not initially listed in a White House delegation to Beijing, joined the trip after an invitation from President Donald Trump, a source said. Trump picked him up in Alaska en route to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, raising hopes the trip could finally unlock stalled efforts to sell the H200 chips in China.
The stakes are significant, highlighting how the U.S.-China tech rivalry is now snarling even approved trade, leaving the world's most valuable company and dominant chipmaker caught between dueling national priorities.
Before U.S. export curbs tightened, Nvidia commanded about 95% of China’s advanced chip market. China once accounted for 13% of its revenue, and Huang has previously estimated the country's AI market alone would be worth $50 billion this year.
The U.S. Commerce Department has approved around 10 Chinese companies including Alibaba , Tencent , ByteDance and JD.com to purchase Nvidia's H200 chips, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
A handful of distributors including Lenovo and Foxconn have also been approved, they said. Buyers are permitted to purchase either directly from Nvidia or through those intermediaries and each approved customer can purchase up to 75,000 chips under the U.S. licensing terms, two of them said.
The identities of the approved buyers, and the nature of their relationships with Nvidia and the authorized distributors involving the coveted AI chip, have not been previously reported.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees export controls like those on H200 semiconductors, declined comment.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission did not respond to requests for comment.
Lenovo confirmed in a statement to Reuters that the company "is one of several companies approved to sell H200 in China as part of Nvidia's export license."
Nvidia, Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, JD.com and Foxconn did not respond to requests for comment.
Huang told state broadcaster CCTV on Thursday that he hoped Trump and Xi would build on their good relationship during talks in Beijing to improve two-way ties.
NO SALES YET
Despite U.S. approval, deals have stalled, as Chinese firms pulled back after guidance from Beijing, one source said.
The shift in China was partly triggered by changes on the U.S. side, though exactly what changed remains unclear, the person added.
In Beijing, pressure is mounting to block or tightly vet the orders, a separate fourth source said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick echoed that view, telling a Senate hearing last month that "the Chinese central government has not let them, as of yet, buy the chips, because they're trying to keep their investment focused on their own domestic industry."
Source: Reuters
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
