The US government has given the green light for about 10 Chinese companies to purchase Nvidia’s H200 AI chips. The catch: none of them have actually received any.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer disclosed on May 15 that export controls on semiconductors weren’t a major talking point during his discussions with Chinese officials in Beijing. He characterized any potential purchases of H200 chips by Chinese firms as a “sovereign decision,” a diplomatic way of saying the ball is in China’s court.
The approvals, the surcharge, and the silence
The list of approved buyers includes Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, JD.com, Lenovo, and Foxconn, each eligible to purchase up to 75,000 H200 units.
The approved sales come with a 25% surcharge and mandatory security reviews.
