US President Donald Trump’s administration has launched a review that could result in the first shipments to China of Nvidia’s H200 chips, five sources said, making good on his pledge to allow the controversial sales.
Trump this month said he would allow sales of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, with the US government collecting a 25 per cent fee, and that the sales would help keep US firms ahead by cutting demand for Chinese-developed chips.
The move drew fire from China hawks across the US political spectrum over concerns the chips would supercharge Beijing’s military and erode America’s advantage in artificial intelligence.
But questions have remained about how quickly the US might approve such sales and whether Beijing would allow Chinese firms to purchase the Nvidia chips.
The US Department of Commerce, which oversees export policy, has sent licence applications for the chip sales to the State, Energy and Defence Departments for review, the sources said on condition of anonymity because the process is not public.
Those agencies have 30 days to weigh in, according to export regulations.
