Up to Six Times the Performance of the Low-End H20
Democratic Hardliners: "A Threat to U.S. National Security"
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to allow the export of NVIDIA’s artificial intelligence (AI) chip, the “H200,” to China.
On December 8 (local time), major foreign media outlets including Bloomberg and Reuters reported, citing sources, that the U.S. Department of Commerce is set to approve the export of NVIDIA’s high-performance graphics processing unit (GPU) H200 to China. The U.S. government had previously tightened export controls on advanced technologies, including semiconductors, to China for national security reasons since 2022, during the previous Joe Biden administration.
According to sources, this measure takes into account that while the H200 is one step below NVIDIA’s latest AI chip, “Blackwell,” in terms of performance, it is significantly more powerful than the lower-spec AI chip “H20,” which is currently allowed for export to China. The U.S. think tank Institute for Progress stated in a report released the previous day that the H200 is six times more powerful than the H20, and predicted that China could use it as the basis to build AI supercomputers on par with those in the United States.
Foreign media reported that this policy is a compromise designed by President Trump to avoid taking the extreme step of completely halting the supply of U.S.-made AI chips to China, while still prohibiting the export of the most advanced Blackwell chips. The Department of Commerce and NVIDIA did not respond to requests for comment.
The approval of H200 exports to China is said to have been supported by Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce. Lutnick reportedly believes that exporting to China will help expand NVIDIA’s revenues while maintaining the global standard status of U.S. technology.
However, there is considerable backlash within the United States. Hardline lawmakers in Congress warn that selling advanced AI chips to China could bolster its military capabilities and threaten U.S. national security.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (Democrat, Massachusetts) criticized, “CEO Jensen Huang realized his wish to sell the most powerful AI chips to China after a private meeting with President Trump and a donation to the president’s ballroom. This could accelerate China’s technological and military superiority efforts and poses a risk to the economic and national security of the United States.”
Meanwhile, on this day, NVIDIA’s stock price closed up 1.7% from the previous trading day on the New York Stock Exchange.
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