After the recent visit to Beijing, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has announced that it will be resuming sales of its “severely downgraded” H20 AI chip to China.
Backed by an official statement from the U.S government, Team Green will be fulfilling orders as soon as possible after the license goes into effect. He also announced a new RTX PRO GPU “designed for digital twin AI in use cases of smart factories and logistics”.
As to why the U.S government decided to ease up the restriction amidst such fierce geopolitical battles involving the semiconductor scene, the U.S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent might have some answer to that, as he told BloombergTV that the reason behind the special license is that Huawei already has chips equivalent to H20, or in simpler terms, “If they already have it, so why not”, according to a report by Global Times.
But there are considerations as well, citing Bessent’s claim on the rise of “digital Belt and Road” where other countries seek Chinese alternatives instead of sticking with American-made products – implying that the U.S is still trying to maintain dominance in the semiconductor space and doesn’t want to see a world where its influence fades.
Not everyone sees it the same way, though. Ma Jihua, a telecom industry expert speaking to China’s Global Times, argued that Bessent’s remarks were more about defending US chip hegemony than anything else. He emphasized that the semiconductor industry thrives on global collaboration and competition, and by trying to suppress others, the US is actually holding back innovation. According to Ma, healthy competition with multiple players at every level of the supply chain is what drives real progress in AI and chips.
Meanwhile, Chinese officials are keeping things diplomatically cautious. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said they don’t usually comment on specific companies like Nvidia, but reiterated China’s stance against politicizing tech and trade. He criticized what he called the “malicious blockade” and suppression tactics, arguing that they’re harmful to the stability of global supply chains and don’t serve anyone’s best interests.
