15 July 2025— U.S. chipmaking giant Nvidia announced plans to resume sales of its H20 artificial intelligence (AI) chip to China, just days after CEO Jensen Huang arrived in Beijing and met with former U.S. President Donald Trump. The move signals a potential easing of tensions in the high-stakes tech standoff between the United States and China.
The company confirmed on Monday that it is seeking approval from the U.S. government to reinitiate shipments of its H20 graphics processing unit (GPU) to China and expects licences to be granted soon. “The U.S. government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,” the company said in a statement.
Nvidia’s AI chips have been at the heart of recent U.S. export controls aimed at preventing China’s military from accessing cutting-edge semiconductor technology. Those restrictions, imposed in April by the Trump administration, blocked Nvidia from selling the H20 chip—its most advanced AI product legally available to Chinese customers—and were expected to slash the company’s revenue by as much as $15 billion.
In response, Nvidia has developed a new AI chip specifically tailored for the Chinese market—the RTX Pro GPU—which it says is “fully compliant” with U.S. export regulations. The chip is designed for industrial applications such as digital twin simulations, smart factories, and logistics systems. It follows earlier reports that the company was preparing to launch a lower-cost, China-specific chip based on its RTX Pro 6000D platform.
The H20 chip, which was created after the initial U.S. export restrictions were enforced in late 2023, had become the most powerful AI product available to China before being banned earlier this year. The restrictions led Nvidia to write off $5.5 billion in unsold inventory and walk away from $15 billion in projected sales.
CEO Jensen Huang is scheduled to speak at a media briefing on Wednesday in Beijing while attending a major supply chain expo. This marks his second visit to China this year, underlining Nvidia’s commitment to the world’s second-largest economy.
Speaking to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday, Huang reiterated the significance of the Chinese market. “The Chinese market is massive, dynamic, and highly innovative, and it’s also home to many AI researchers. Therefore, it is indeed crucial for American companies to establish roots in the Chinese market,” he said.
Nvidia’s return to the Chinese market comes amid a broader thaw in U.S.–China tech relations. Beijing recently loosened restrictions on rare earth exports, while Washington allowed certain U.S. chip design software services to resume in China. Industry analysts say this could mark the beginning of a tentative normalization in tech trade between the two superpowers.
However, not everyone is convinced the relationship is on stable ground. “The uncertainties between the U.S. and China remain high and despite a pause in the H20’s ban, Chinese companies will continue to diversify their options to better protect their supply chain integrity,” said He Hui, research director for semiconductors at Omdia.
Nvidia is also facing growing competition from Chinese players, most notably tech giant Huawei, which has been developing its own AI chips and pushing alternatives to Nvidia’s CUDA computing platform. Still, many Chinese firms remain dependent on Nvidia’s technology, especially in the fields of machine learning and data center acceleration.
Huang’s visit is also being closely scrutinized in Washington. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently sent a letter to the Nvidia CEO, urging him to avoid meetings with Chinese companies linked to the military or intelligence community and to steer clear of entities on the U.S. restricted export list.
So far, the White House has not commented on Nvidia’s plans or Huang’s engagements in Beijing.
Despite the regulatory headwinds, China remains a key market for Nvidia. According to its latest annual report, China accounted for $17 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending January 26—roughly 13% of the company’s total sales. Huang has repeatedly emphasized the country’s importance for Nvidia’s global strategy.
The company’s newly introduced RTX Pro chip is expected to be less powerful and less expensive than the H20 but tailored to Chinese regulations. Sources indicate that it will be built on Nvidia’s latest Blackwell architecture and positioned to address industrial AI needs at a lower price point.
As Nvidia waits for final U.S. government clearance, the company appears to be walking a fine line between geopolitical tensions and commercial necessity. With both the U.S. and China showing early signs of willingness to re-engage, the outcome of Huang’s trip could have broad implications for the future of AI and global semiconductor trade.
