Chinese tech giants ByteDance and Alibaba have reportedly reached out to Nvidia about purchasing its powerful H200 AI chips, following President Donald Trump’s decision to allow exports of the model to China.
According to sources cited by Reuters, both companies are eager to place large orders once Beijing gives the go-ahead. However, there are growing concerns about supply shortages, as the H200 remains in limited production while Nvidia prioritizes its Blackwell and upcoming Rubin chips.
Before Trump’s new policy, the most advanced Nvidia chip that could be legally sold to China was the H20—nearly six times less powerful than the H200. This marks a major policy reversal, as older chips like the A100 and H100 are still restricted under US export rules, yet the far stronger H200 is now permitted.
Reports suggest that China’s regulators have met with major firms including ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent to assess demand and will review purchase requests before approving them. The move comes as Chinese authorities continue promoting local AI chip development by companies like Huawei and Cambricon.
Despite this, experts say leading AI models in China still rely heavily on Nvidia GPUs. “The training of top Chinese AI models still depends on Nvidia cards,” said Zhang Yuchun of SuperCloud, adding that purchases will likely be made “quietly but in large amounts.”
The decision could reopen a key revenue stream for Nvidia in China and further fuel competition between the US and China in AI computing power. However, the limited supply and political oversight mean that any surge in H200 sales will likely remain low-key and controlled.
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