Nvidia is in discussions with United States authorities over the conditions attached to licences that would allow China’s ByteDance to purchase its H200 artificial intelligence chips, highlighting growing scrutiny of advanced semiconductor exports to Chinese technology firms. About two weeks ago, the United States government indicated it was prepared to approve the export licence, according to a person familiar with the matter. However, Nvidia has not agreed to certain proposed conditions, including Know Your Customer requirements designed to ensure the chips are not diverted for unauthorised uses, leaving the final terms still under negotiation.
Beyond ByteDance, Nvidia is negotiating licence terms covering shipments of its H200 chips to several Chinese companies, according to the source and two others familiar with the talks. The discussions focus on how compliance requirements would be implemented in practice, reflecting concerns over monitoring end users and end uses across a wider customer base. Nvidia stated that it acts as an intermediary between regulators and customers and must operate within official restrictions, stressing that it cannot unilaterally accept or reject licence conditions and that customer verification must remain commercially workable so that buyers are not pushed toward alternative suppliers outside the United States.
Chinese regulators have already granted preliminary approval for ByteDance, Tencent, Alibaba and artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek to import the H200 chips, although final regulatory details are still being finalised. The outcome of the negotiations between Nvidia and United States authorities will determine whether shipments proceed under a framework that applies similar terms to comparable products from companies including AMD and Intel. The resolution of these talks will shape how leading Chinese internet and artificial intelligence firms access Nvidia’s latest data center chips while navigating tightening export controls and competitive pressure from non United States vendors.
