NVIDIA and AMD to resume sales of AI chips to China as Trump administration reverses stance and eases regulations on AI semiconductors

The US government ordered restrictions on exports of AI chips to China in 2022, forcing major semiconductor manufacturer NVIDIA to develop a new AI chip, the H20 , with reduced processing power exclusively for China to circumvent the restrictions. In April 2025, restrictions were extended to include the sale of H20, which required a license , but after NVIDIA's CEO met with President Trump and US policymakers, the companies announced that licenses for NVIDIA and AMD chips for China had been approved.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang Promotes AI in Washington, DC and China | NVIDIA Blog
https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-ceo-promotes-ai-in-dc-and-china/

Nvidia to resume H20 sales in China — says US government has promised to grant licenses, deliveries to start soon | Tom's Hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/nvidia-to-resume-h20-sales-in-china-says-us-government-has-promised-to-grant-licenses-deliveries-to-start-soon

Trump lightens chip bans on China, AMD to restart MI308 AI chip sales in the country, joining Nvidia's H20 — 'We plan to resume shipments as licenses are approved' | Tom's Hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/trump-lightens-chip-bans-on-china-amd-to-restart-mi308-ai-chip-sales-in-the-country-joining-nvidias-h20-we-plan-to-resume-shipments-as-licenses-are-approved

In August 2022, the United States imposed restrictions on the export of high-performance semiconductors necessary for the development of AI-related products, imposing license requirements on semiconductor exports to some regions, such as China and Russia. This means that semiconductor companies such as NVIDIA can no longer export semiconductors with certain performance without a license. NVIDIA developed new semiconductors to circumvent the restrictions, but received a warning to thoroughly block semiconductor exports to China, stating that 'new products that redesign restricted products will be immediately subject to additional restrictions.'

America warns NVIDIA to stop manufacturing chips for China - GIGAZINE

Before the government restrictions began, NVIDIA held more than 90% of the Chinese AI chip market. However, due to the US government's export restrictions, NVIDIA faced a fierce market share battle with Chinese manufacturers, led by Huawei. NVIDIA developed the H20, a performance-restricted version of the AI chip, which falls below the restricted regulations. As of July 2024, the company planned to sell more than 1 million H20s in China, with sales of 2 trillion yen.

Even though the performance has been reduced, the H20 is still the most advanced chip that American companies can sell to China, so there was a growing view that it would also be subject to export restrictions. There were reports that the export restrictions on the H20 were lifted after NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang had a 150 million yen dinner with President Trump, but in April 2025, it was revealed that the US government had once again strengthened semiconductor export restrictions to China and imposed licensing requirements on the H20.

The U.S. government demanded a license to sell NVIDIA's AI chip 'H20' to China, and NVIDIA recorded $5.5 billion in related expenses - GIGAZINE

In response to the tightening of regulations, NVIDIA CEO Huang visited China to meet with Chinese customers and government officials, including DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, in an effort to somehow break into the Chinese market. He also met with President Donald Trump and U.S. policymakers in Washington DC to highlight NVIDIA's contributions and benefits to the administration's efforts to create jobs, strengthen domestic AI infrastructure and domestic manufacturing, and ensure America leads the world in AI.

As a result, NVIDIA announced in its official newsroom that 'NVIDIA will resume sales of H20 to China and develop new GPUs that are fully compliant for China.' NVIDIA also told online media Tom's Hardware that 'the US government has guaranteed that it will grant a license to NVIDIA, and NVIDIA plans to begin deliveries shortly,' revealing that license authentication has been completed.

A few hours after NVIDIA announced that it expected to receive H20 approval, AMD also revealed that its license application for the AI chip ' MI308 ', which has performance reduced to a level that can avoid regulations for China, has progressed to the review stage and is expected to be approved. In a statement to the media, AMD stated its plans, saying, 'We plan to begin shipping MI308 as soon as the license is approved.'

In a statement, AMD said, 'We applaud the Trump Administration's progress in trade negotiations and America's commitment to AI leadership.' However, this change in policy only means that the H20 and MI308 licenses have been approved, and it does not mean that the US government's ban on AI chip exports has been lifted. The Trump administration has yet to announce detailed policies for 'simplified rules' on semiconductors. At the time of writing, the US Department of Commerce and the White House had not responded to requests for comment from the media.