Nvidia Stock Soars as US Signals Green Light for Powerful H200 Chip Sales to China
In a major potential shift for the global technology landscape, reports suggest the United States government is poised to allow Nvidia to resume sales of its powerful H200 artificial intelligence chips to China. The news immediately sent a jolt of energy through the market, with Nvidia stock seeing an uptick as investors reacted to the possibility of regaining access to a massive and highly lucrative market.
The reported decision comes from the Commerce Department, which is said to be preparing to authorize the export of the H200. This marks a notable change in the US strategy concerning advanced semiconductor exports to China, a policy area that has been fiercely contested for years.
A Delicate Balance of Power and Profits
At the heart of this geopolitical debate sits the H200, a key piece of hardware designed for the intensely demanding work of training large AI models. The chip, which is an upgraded version of Nvidia’s Hopper architecture, boasts significantly more high-bandwidth memory compared to its predecessors. This makes it a formidable accelerator for advanced computing applications, giving it an estimated performance roughly twice that of the H20 chip, which was previously the most advanced Nvidia processor legally permitted for shipment to China.
Despite its power, the H200 is not Nvidia’s absolute cutting-edge technology; it still lags behind the company’s newest, most powerful generation, the Blackwell series, which remains strictly prohibited for export to Beijing. This positioning is key, representing what many in Washington view as a strategic compromise: granting China access to a strong, high-end chip for its commercial AI sector while attempting to maintain a technological buffer for critical national security interests.
The potential policy shift is also a reflection of the economic realities for American companies. Existing US restrictions had prevented Nvidia from offering a truly “competitive AI data center chip” in the Chinese market, which inadvertently allowed homegrown Chinese rivals, particularly Huawei’s Ascend chips, to gain significant traction. For the US chip giant, regaining this business could restore billions in revenue.
Congressional Pushback and Market Uncertainty
However, the green light is not without significant domestic opposition. The move immediately sparked bipartisan concern on Capitol Hill, where a group of senators introduced a bill specifically intended to block the administration from easing export restrictions on AI chips more advanced than the current legal limits. Known as the SAFE CHIPS Act, the legislation reflects deep-seated fears among China hawks that any advanced US technology could ultimately be leveraged by Beijing for military development and surveillance capabilities.
Adding another layer of complexity is China’s own reaction. The US previously authorized a less powerful, China-specific version of the chip, the H20, which Beijing reportedly shunned, choosing instead to focus on its own domestic suppliers. Even with US approval on the table, Nvidia’s CEO has publicly expressed uncertainty over whether Chinese companies will even choose to purchase the H200, given China’s aggressive push for technological self-reliance and the rising capability of domestic alternatives.
The ultimate rollout of the H200 to China will be a crucial test of whether the new, calibrated approach to export controls can successfully balance the financial interests of American tech leaders with the national security objectives of the US government.