Nvidia CEO Jensen Huangrecently praised China’s open-source artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, hailing them as a "catalyst for global progress" and a driving force for innovation across various industries. Speaking at the China International Supply Chain Expoin Beijing, Huang emphasized that AI is profoundly transforming sectors such as scientific research, healthcare, energy, transportation, and logistics.

During his third visit to the Chinese capital this year, Huang, clad in a dark suit instead of his usual black leather jacket, served as a guest of honor at the expo. He specifically highlighted large language models (LLMs) developed by Chinese companies, including DeepSeek, Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings, MiniMax, and Baidu, as "world class." These models, developed and shared openly in China, have spurred AI advancements globally, offering every country and industry a chance to join the AI revolution.

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A significant development stemming from Huang’s visit and prior discussions is Nvidia’sresumption of shipping its sought-after chips to China. The California-based chip-design firm is poised to restart exports of its H20 chips, which are specifically designed for the Chinese market and are less powerful than Nvidia’s top-tier acceleration chips. This move comes after the U.S. government assured Nvidia that licenses for exporting the H20 chip would be granted swiftly.

Huang confirmed that many order books are already in, with major internet companies like ByteDance and Tencent reportedly in the process of submitting applications, though ByteDance has denied its current submission. The return of Nvidia’s chips to the Chinese market is a crucial point for the company, as Huang stated on state broadcaster CCTV that the Chinese market is "massive, dynamic, and highly innovative," making it essential for American companies to establish roots there.

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The context of these sales also involves complex geopolitical dynamics; U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicated that the planned resumption of H20 sales was linked to constructive discussions between the U.S. and Chinese governments regarding export control negotiations, specifically related to rare earths. Nvidia is also actively developing a new chip for its Chinese clientele, the RTX Pro GPU, designed to comply with U.S. export restrictions.