Nvidia (NVDA) said it aims to ship its H200 artificial intelligence chips to China before the Lunar New Year holiday in February next year.
The chipmaker said it would fulfill initial orders from Chinese customers using existing inventory, Reuters reported Sunday. The initial shipment volume is expected to be 5,000 to 10,000 chip modules, equivalent to approximately 40,000 to 80,000 H200 AI chips. Nvidia is reportedly planning to secure additional production capacity for H200 shipments to China. Additional production could be shipped starting in the second quarter of next year, according to Reuters.
However, significant uncertainty remains as the Chinese government has not yet approved H200 purchases, and the timeline could change depending on government decisions, sources said. According to Reuters, Chinese authorities held an emergency meeting earlier this month to discuss the matter and are currently weighing whether to allow the shipments. One option under consideration would require buyers to purchase a certain proportion of Chinese-made semiconductors bundled with H200 purchases, sources said.
Earlier, foreign media reported on December 18 that the U.S. government had begun reviewing Nvidia's H200 exports to China. The U.S. Commerce Department forwarded the export license application for H200 chips to the State Department, Energy Department, and Defense Department for review. Under regulations, these departments must provide their opinions within 30 days.
Chinese technology companies including Alibaba and ByteDance have already contacted Nvidia to discuss bulk purchases of H200 chips, sources said.
