{"id":1604718,"date":"2025-12-09T17:17:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T22:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1604718"},"modified":"2025-12-09T17:17:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T22:17:51","slug":"jensen-huang-nvidia-gains-approval-ai-chips-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/12\/jensen-huang-nvidia-gains-approval-ai-chips-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Jensen Huang Wins Big: Nvidia Regains Access to China\u2019s A.I. Market"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang scores a major victory after months of lobbying for renewed access to the Chinese A.I. market. Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jensen Huang’s months-long charm offensive in Washington seems to be paying off. President Donald Trump is granting Nvidia permission to sell the H200 GPU, its second-most powerful A.I. chip, to China, reversing a Biden-era ban. The decision came after months of lobbying from Huang, who had been pushing to regain the company\u2019s foothold in its largest overseas market.<\/p>\n

“I have informed President Xi, of China, that the United States will allow Nvidia to ship its H200 products to approved customers in China, and other countries, under conditions that allow for continued strong national security,” said Trump in a Truth Social post yesterday (Dec. 8). Similar approvals will be granted to AMD, Intel and other U.S. chipmakers, said the President.<\/p>\n

Nvidia was previously only allowed to sell the H20\u2014a special GPU designed to comply with U.S. export rules\u2014to China. H200 is six times more powerful<\/a> than H20, according to a recent report from the Institute for Progress, and significantly outperforms GPUs made by Chinese chipmakers.<\/p>\n

Nvidia has been facing trade blockage on both sides. Sales of the H20 were blocked by the Trump administration earlier this year, and the ban was later lifted. Chinese regulators have since moved to restrict those imports, and Beijing will also impose limits on H200 sales<\/a>, according to the Financial Times. Chinese buyers will have to go through an approval process requiring them to explain why domestic suppliers can\u2019t meet their needs.<\/p>\n

The H200 remains less powerful than Nvidia\u2019s latest Blackwell generation or its upcoming Rubin chips. Those top-tier products are not part of the China deal, Trump said, describing the H200 approval as one that will still “support American jobs, strengthen U.S. manufacturing and benefit American taxpayers.”<\/p>\n

Nvidia welcomed the move. The decision “strikes a thoughtful balance,” the company said in a statement. “We applaud President Trump’s decision to allow America’s chip industry to compete to support high-paying jobs and manufacturing in America.”<\/p>\n

But critics argue the policy undercuts U.S. national-security interests. “It is difficult to see how this move will benefit national security, on the one hand, or technological competitiveness,” said Larry Ward, a national security law expert with Dorsey & Whitney LLP, in a statement that suggested the U.S. “may be a little too late on both fronts.”<\/p>\n

Trump’s approval also appears to contain a transactional component. The chip sales will see “$25 %<\/a>” paid to the U.S., said the president, without clarifying what revenue figure that percentage applies to. This summer, the administration floated a similar deal in which Nvidia would have given the U.S. 15 percent of its China H20 revenue. The deal failed to materialize.<\/p>\n

The announcement caps months of successful lobbying by Huang, who has argued that Chinese A.I. companies should be required to build on American technology rather than alternatives. The CEO has spent much of 2025 shuttling between Washington and Beijing in an effort to win support. China represents a $50 billion opportunity<\/a> for Nvidia that Huang said will grow at 50 percent annually. In August, Nvidia CFO Colette Kress estimated the company could generate $2 billion to $5 billion per quarter from H20 sales alone if restrictions eased.<\/p>\n

For now, Huang appears to have secured at least part of what he wanted. He and Trump met in Washington as recently as last week to discuss export controls. The Nvidia CEO is a “smart man<\/a>,” Trump told reporters following the meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nvidia can now sell H200 chips to China under Trump\u2019s new policy, a shift that follows months of lobbying by CEO Jensen Huang.<\/p>\n Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":177935281,"featured_media":1604730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"post_tag":[423882415],"company":[423976109,423867323,35186],"channel":[186,12374,423874676,423875666],"location":[],"nyo_column":[],"person":[423888988,423802949,423986638],"nyo_post_hidden":[],"coauthor":[423972268],"class_list":{"0":"post-1604718","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-semiconductors","8":"observer_company-amd","9":"observer_company-intel","10":"observer_company-nvidia","11":"channel-business","12":"channel-artificial-intelligence","13":"channel-policy","14":"channel-technology","15":"nyo_person-jensen-huang","16":"nyo_person-donald-trump","17":"nyo_person-colette-kress"},"acf":{"homepage_position":"","homepage_title":"","homepage_excerpt":"","alternative_og_image":"","headline":{"seo_headline":""},"subheadline":{"optimized_seo_description":"","optimized_social_excerpt":""}},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/12\/jensen-huang-nvidia-gains-approval-ai-chips-china\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/observer.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2212801534.jpg?quality=80","coauthors_byline":"By Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly","display_channel":"","thumbnail":"\"Man