NextFin news, The United States Commerce Department has begun granting export licenses to Nvidia, permitting the company to ship its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China. This development follows a recent policy reversal that lifted a prior ban on the sale of these chips to Chinese entities.
Despite the approval for the H20 chips, exports of Nvidia's other advanced AI chips to China remain restricted under current US regulations. The number of licenses issued, the specific Chinese companies authorized to receive the shipments, and the total value of the approved exports have not been disclosed.
Nvidia had previously indicated that the export restrictions would result in an $8 billion reduction in its sales for the July quarter. In the first quarter, Nvidia reported that sales of the H20 chip reached $4.6 billion, with China accounting for 12.5% of the company's total revenue.
The US government has tightened controls on advanced chip exports to China in recent years, aiming to limit China's capabilities in artificial intelligence and defense technologies. The recent licensing decision marks a partial easing of these controls specifically for the H20 chip.
This move allows Nvidia to resume chip sales to China, potentially mitigating some of the financial impacts caused by the earlier export restrictions. However, exports of other Nvidia AI chips to China remain subject to existing US export controls.
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