Tech Explained: Here’s a simplified explanation of the latest technology update around Tech Explained: China approves 3 tech companies to buy Nvidia’s H200 AI chips: Report – Firstpost in Simple Termsand what it means for users..
ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have been shown the green light to buy more than 400,000 H200 chips in total. Other tech companies are now waiting in the queue to get similar approvals from the government
China has approved three of its largest tech companies to purchase Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips, marking a significant shift in policy as the country seeks to catch up in the AI race.
According to a report by Reuters, ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have been shown the green light to buy more than 400,000 H200 chips in total. Other tech companies are now waiting in the queue to get similar approvals from the government.
However, sources have told the news agency that Beijing has allowed the purchase, not without a set of conditions that are being decided upon currently. Licenses are too restrictive, and customers were not yet converting the approvals to purchase orders.
Is China trying to limit access to H200 chips?
Last month, regulators in Beijing were looking at ways to
limit access to the H200 chips, Nvidia’s second-best generation of artificial intelligence chips.
Buyers would likely have to undergo an approval process, submitting requests to purchase the chips and explaining why domestic suppliers could not meet their requirements. Other moves include increasing customs checks of chip imports and offering energy subsidies to data centres using domestic chips.
The two regulators leading Beijing’s years-long push for semiconductor self-sufficiency, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, may impose additional measures to bolster the competitiveness of domestic chips, the people said. These could include prohibiting China’s public sector from purchasing the H200.
Trump allows Nvidia to sell AI chips to China
US President Donald Trump authorised
Nvidia to sell AI chips to China in December, as he informed Chinese President Xi Jinping of the development.
Although Trump had clarified that the US will not provide China with the Blackwell chip, the sale could be worth billions of dollars for Nvidia. The company has said it has more than $500 billion worth of orders for its best artificial intelligence chips to fulfil this year and next, and that’s before any buyers in China are factored in.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “I have informed President Xi, of China, that the United States will allow NVIDIA to ship its H200 products to approved customers in China, and other Countries, under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security. President Xi responded positively!”
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