The US commerce department has begun issuing export licences to Nvidia for its H20 chips destined for China, ending a weeks-long pause after chief executive Jensen Huang´s meetings at the White House with president Donald Trump. The bureau of industry and security, the Commerce Department division that enforces export controls, has started approving applications for the H20, a variant Nvidia developed for the Chinese market after earlier limits on more advanced Artificial Intelligence chips. Nvidia and the Commerce Department declined to comment on the timing or scope of the approvals.
The licence approvals follow a contentious sequence: initial restrictions imposed under the Biden administration, an April block by the Trump administration, a White House reversal after Huang lobbied the president, and then frustration at Nvidia when weeks passed without any licences being issued. Sources close to the matter told reporters that licences began to flow two days after Huang´s most recent Oval Office visit. The company said restrictions risk accelerating China’s independent innovation, while critics argue the sales could strengthen Chinese military capabilities.
Security voices inside and outside government pushed back. A group of 20 security experts, including former deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger and a recent national security council member David Feith, sent a letter urging commerce secretary Howard Lutnick to block H20 sales, calling approval a strategic misstep that could erode US economic and military advantage in Artificial Intelligence. Nvidia described such critiques as misguided. The firm also reported meaningful revenue impacts from the initial restrictions, citing lost sales and a forecasted shortfall from China, and said it had explored chip redesigns to comply with new rules.
Nvidia has also resisted requests to embed surveillance or control mechanisms in its hardware. Chief security officer David Reber Jr. published a blog post titled ´No Backdoors. No Kill Switches. No Spyware.´ arguing that GPUs used to train and run Artificial Intelligence models must remain free of covert access. Chinese officials recently raised backdoor concerns and sought a meeting with the company. Jensen Huang has warned that continued restrictions risk ceding ground to competitors such as Huawei, noting Nvidia´s market share in China fell sharply as local rivals matured.
