American chip makers are finding a way back into the Chinese market after a brutal dry spell. NVIDIA secured approval to sell its Hopper H200 AI accelerators there, though with a hefty twenty-five percent tariff attached. AMD is also in the mix, reportedly lined up to ship tens of thousands of its Instinct MI308 chips to the Chinese firm Alibaba. This marks a shift from earlier this year, when NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang stated their Chinese market share had hit absolute zero due to strict export controls.
This reopening followed significant lobbying and policy adjustments. Initial efforts allowed sales of toned-down chips like the H20, but Beijing resisted those, even launching security probes and pushing domestic alternatives from Huawei. The recent breakthrough, permitting more powerful hardware, came with complex supply chain and cost implications. Shipments of the H200 are slated to begin around mid-February, with estimates for the first batch reaching up to eighty thousand units. Industry observers note that despite available local options, Chinese companies still heavily seek American chips for training advanced AI models, creating massive demand.
This reopening followed significant lobbying and policy adjustments. Initial efforts allowed sales of toned-down chips like the H20, but Beijing resisted those, even launching security probes and pushing domestic alternatives from Huawei. The recent breakthrough, permitting more powerful hardware, came with complex supply chain and cost implications. Shipments of the H200 are slated to begin around mid-February, with estimates for the first batch reaching up to eighty thousand units. Industry observers note that despite available local options, Chinese companies still heavily seek American chips for training advanced AI models, creating massive demand.
