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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] The Trump administration is discussing a proposal to cap exports of Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips to China at 75,000 units per company per year, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 2, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The move would further restrict Nvidia’s reentry into the Chinese market and reflects Washington’s intent to prevent advanced AI chips from being used for military purposes. Comparable export controls could also be imposed on AMD’s MI325 chips, which offer similar performance.
Although total exports to China could still reach as many as 1 million units, current demand is concentrated among a handful of major Chinese technology firms, including Alibaba Group and ByteDance. Under a 75,000-unit cap per company, the total allocation to these firms would fall significantly short of their reported desired purchase volumes, Bloomberg said.
Following the report, Nvidia and AMD shares fell in after-hours trading. Nvidia slipped nearly 1% to around $181 per share, while AMD declined to about $197.07.
It remains unclear whether China would approve imports even if U.S. export licenses are granted. Former President Donald Trump said in December that Chinese President Xi Jinping had responded positively to proposals involving the H200. Chinese regulators have reportedly instructed companies to prepare orders.
However, Nvidia said last week that it currently generates no data center revenue from China and reiterated uncertainty over whether Beijing would ultimately approve the imports. Bloomberg noted that Chinese authorities must balance domestic demand for U.S. semiconductors against long-standing efforts to promote homegrown chipmakers such as Huawei.
Market attention is now focused on whether a final agreement could emerge during a potential meeting between Trump and Xi, with sources indicating that Trump hopes to secure export deals for H200 chips to non-military Chinese firms.
알파경제 Paul Lee 특파원(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
