Jan 14 (Reuters) – Chinese customs authorities told customs agents this week that Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips are not permitted to enter China, according to three people briefed on the matter.
Chinese government officials also summoned domestic technology companies to meetings on Tuesday where they were explicitly instructed not to purchase the chips unless necessary, two of the people and a third source said.
The wording from the officials is so severe that it is basically a ban for now, though this might change in the future should things evolve,” one of the people said.
Though there is strong demand from Chinese firms, it remains unclear whether Beijing wants to ban it outright so that domestic chip companies can flourish, or is still chewing over restrictions, or whether these measures could be used as a bargaining tactic in talks with Washington.
HUGE ORDERS PLACED
The Information on Tuesday reported that the Chinese government this week told some tech companies it would only approve their H200 purchases under special circumstances, such as for research and development conducted in partnerships at universities.
Exemptions are being discussed for R&D purposes and universities, said one of the sources.
Chinese technology companies have placed orders for more than two million H200 chips priced at around $27,000 each, far exceeding Nvidia’s inventory of 700,000 chips, sources said last month.
Conditions placed by the U.S. on the H200 exports include a cap limiting China to no more than 50% of the total chips sold to U.S. customers.
While Chinese chipmakers have developed AI processors like Huawei’s Ascend 910C, the H200 is considered far more efficient for the large-scale training of advanced AI models.
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Jan 14 (Reuters) – Chinese customs authorities told customs agents this week that Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips are not permitted to enter China, according to three people briefed on the matter.
Chinese government officials also summoned domestic technology companies to meetings on Tuesday where they were explicitly instructed not to purchase the chips unless necessary, two of the people and a third source said.
The wording from the officials is so severe that it is basically a ban for now, though this might change in the future should things evolve,” one of the people said.
Though there is strong demand from Chinese firms, it remains unclear whether Beijing wants to ban it outright so that domestic chip companies can flourish, or is still chewing over restrictions, or whether these measures could be used as a bargaining tactic in talks with Washington.
HUGE ORDERS PLACED
The Information on Tuesday reported that the Chinese government this week told some tech companies it would only approve their H200 purchases under special circumstances, such as for research and development conducted in partnerships at universities.
Exemptions are being discussed for R&D purposes and universities, said one of the sources.
Chinese technology companies have placed orders for more than two million H200 chips priced at around $27,000 each, far exceeding Nvidia’s inventory of 700,000 chips, sources said last month.
Conditions placed by the U.S. on the H200 exports include a cap limiting China to no more than 50% of the total chips sold to U.S. customers.
While Chinese chipmakers have developed AI processors like Huawei’s Ascend 910C, the H200 is considered far more efficient for the large-scale training of advanced AI models.