"Still, Nvidia wants the business because China is a huge market. The latest approvals came during Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's visit to China this week, according to sources who spoke with Reuters on the condition of anonymity. Other Chinese firms are now waiting for their own approvals in future rounds, though Beijing is attaching conditions to the licenses that have not yet been finalized."
"The approval signals Beijing's prioritization of its major Internet companies, which are spending billions of dollars to build data centers needed to develop AI services and compete with US rivals, including OpenAI. But regulators are also trying to nurture China's domestic semiconductor industry, the South China Morning Post reported. The first batch was expected to go to Big Tech companies in urgent need of the GPU, according to a source who spoke with that publication."
China granted limited approvals for Nvidia H200 GPUs during Jensen Huang's visit, prioritizing major internet firms building AI data centers. Licenses carry conditions that remain unfinished and may be restrictive, deterring immediate orders. Regulators seek to balance giving Big Tech urgent access while protecting and nurturing China's domestic semiconductor industry, keeping access for state-backed firms tightly restricted. Authorities have discouraged foreign chip purchases unless necessary and considered bundling H200 purchases with domestic chips. Analysts describe the approvals as strategic moves to advance indigenous semiconductor capabilities and strengthen the competitive position of China's tech sector.
Read at Ars Technica
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