China has effectively decided to control purchases of Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chip.
On the 13th, information technology (IT) outlet The Information reported, citing multiple sources, that the Chinese government notified some tech companies of guidance limiting approval to buy H200 chips to special cases such as university research and development (R&D) labs.
The assessment is that the Chinese government has effectively begun import controls, ordering corporations to buy the chips only when "necessary."
China was initially reported to have considered introducing a measure requiring corporations buying the H200 to also purchase domestic AI chips at a specified ratio, but a stronger control measure has emerged.
The move is seen as reflecting a judgment that protecting the domestic semiconductor industry, including Huawei and Cambricon, is more important than AI development using cutting-edge chips.
However, the Chinese government did not provide specific guidelines or an explanation of the scope for what constitutes "necessary." The Information assessed that this leaves room for Beijing to ease its stance if U.S.-China relations improve going forward.
The H200 chip is a generation behind Nvidia's current-generation graphics processing unit (GPU) architecture, "Blackwell." However, it is assessed to have far superior performance and efficiency than products from domestic semiconductor corporations in China.