China asks Chinese tech firms to halt Nvidia H200 orders as domestic AI chip mandate looms: The Information

BEIJING: Beijing has asked some Chinese tech firms to halt orders for Nvidia’s H200 chips, as the government is expected to mandate measures favouring domestic artificial intelligence (AI) chips, according to The Information, citing people familiar with the matter.

The directive came as Chinese authorities weigh whether to permit access to Nvidia’s high-performance chips and under what conditions—a move aiming to discourage local tech firms from stockpiling US-made chips while Beijing decides on its next steps, the technology news publication’s report added, as reported by Reuters.

As technology trade tensions remain central to frictions between the world’s two largest economies, a US Chinese Embassy spokesperson, Liu Pengyu, said China is committed to basing its national development on its “own strengths” and remains open to dialogue and cooperation to “safeguard the stability of global industrial and supply chains.”

Nvidia and China’s commerce and industry ministries have not yet commented on the matter.

Last month, US President Donald Trump gave his green light to Nvidia to sell its advanced H200 AI chips to “approved customers” in China, though the move was described by some analysts as a “significant strategic mistake” as it could strengthen China’s tech capabilities and narrow the AI gap with the US.

After the go ahead from US President Trump, anonymous sources later told Reuters that Nvidia plans to start shipping its H200 chips before Chinese New Year in mid-February, though shipment timeline could change depending on decisions from Beijing. /TISG

Read also: Nvidia calls report of China’s DeepSeek using banned Blackwell chips ‘far-fetched’

Featured image by Depositphotos