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Nvidia to resume H20 chip sales to China in surprise US reversalThe H20 is a less powerful version of Nvidia’s AI semiconductors, designed specifically for China. It was created to comply with earlier US restrictions on sales of AI hardware.By Bloomberg  July 15, 2025, 8:28:18 AM IST (Updated)3 Min ReadNvidia Corp. plans to resume sales of its H20 artificial intelligence accelerator to China based on assurances from Washington that such shipments would be approved, a dramatic reversal from the Trump administration’s earlier stance.

US government officials have told Nvidia that they would green-light export licenses for the H20, the company said in a blog post on Monday. That China-specific variant of Nvidia’s AI chips was created to comply with earlier trade curbs, but has since April also been blocked from sale in China. A spokesperson for the Commerce Department, which oversees semiconductor export controls, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nasdaq futures surged after Nvidia’s announcement, with Hong Kong and Chinese stocks also reacting positively. The Hang Seng Tech Index rose as much as 2.2%, while data center operators like Beijing Sinnet Technology Co. jumped as much as 7.6%.

“Nvidia resuming the sale of H20 to China is obviously positive,” said Vey-Sern Ling, managing director at Union Bancaire Privee. “Not just for the company but also the AI semiconductor supply chain, as well as China tech platforms that are building AI capabilities. This is also a good development for US-China relations.”

Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang met with US President Donald Trump last week and is in Beijing this week to attend a large supply chain expo. Huang has told Nvidia customers that he expects new China licenses to be granted and hopes to resume H20 deliveries soon. Nvidia also plans to debut a new China-focused chip — the RTX PRO — that the company described as “fully compliant,” meaning that it falls below the technical thresholds that would necessitate Washington’s approval in the first place.

The Trump administration’s about-face on H20 restrictions is a massive win for Huang, who has been increasingly vocal over the past few months about his distaste for Washington’s chip curbs. In May, he called the measures — which cover both chips themselves and the tools used to make them — a “failure” that contributed to the rise of Huawei Technologies Co. He more recently said the US doesn’t need to worry about the Chinese military using Nvidia chips, since Beijing can’t rely on something the US could restrict at any point.

The H20 is a less powerful version of Nvidia’s gold-standard AI acceleration semiconductors, designed specifically for China. It’s part of the company’s response to US restrictions on AI hardware sales to China, which were first imposed in 2022 and ratcheted up several times since, capturing two successive generations of processors Nvidia made for the China market — the H800, followed by the H20. After Trump officials controlled the sale of H20 chips in April, Huang said Nvidia would suffer a cost of billions of dollars due to unsold inventory.

Read Also: Nvidia At $4 Trillion: Scale, challenges and what if it was a country!Continue ReadingFirst Published: Jul 15, 2025 7:54 AM ISTCheck out our in-depth Market Coverage, Business News & get real-time Stock Market Updates on CNBC-TV18. Also, Watch our channels CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bajar Live on-the-go!TagsArtificial IntelligenceNvidianvidia sharessemiconductor chips