During his China visit, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang confirmed that U.S. authorities have authorized sales of the downgraded H20 AI chips to the Chinese market. Huang expressed profound enthusiasm, declaring: "I'm very much looking forward to H20 exports—this makes me extremely happy. It's very, very good news."
Huang simultaneously revealed NVIDIA's upcoming RTX Pro GPU, emphasizing its critical design purpose for computer graphics, digital twin technology, and artificial intelligence applications.
The H20 chip was originally engineered specifically for China under U.S. export constraints, yet faced an abrupt sales ban imposed by Washington in April. Huang previously acknowledged this prohibition would trigger billions in losses for NVIDIA due to inventory accumulation.
Vey-Sern Ling, Managing Director at Union Bancaire Privée, highlighted the significance of resumed H20 sales, noting positive implications not only for NVIDIA but across the AI semiconductor supply chain and Chinese tech platforms developing AI capabilities.
Despite the performance gap between NVIDIA's China-compliant chips and top-tier domestic alternatives, Chinese clients exhibit sustained purchasing willingness. The CUDA software ecosystem creates formidable switching costs—transitioning to alternative platforms would substantially elevate operational expenditures, ensuring continued customer loyalty despite competitive disadvantages.