<span>Story: China has approved the import of the first batch of Nvidia H200 artificial intelligence chips.</span><span>That’s according to a Reuters source familiar with the matter.</span><span>It’s a notable shift as Beijing attempts to balance its needs for artificial intelligence development with support for its domestic semiconductor industry.</span><span>:: document</span><span>The approval covers hundreds of thousands of H200 chips and came during Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s visit to China this week, according to sources. The source requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.</span><span>The semiconductors will go to tech giants ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent, with more companies in line for future approvals, the two said.</span><span>None of the companies involved immediately responded to requests for comment.</span><span>H200 is Nvidia’s second most powerful artificial intelligence chip and a key flashpoint in Sino-US relations.</span><span>Washington has approved its exports, but Beijing’s hesitancy to allow imports has been a major obstacle to shipments.</span><span>The Chinese company has ordered more than 2 million H200 chips, well beyond Nvidia’s available inventory, and while domestic alternatives like Huawei are improving, they still lag far behind H200 performance.</span><span>It’s unclear how many additional approvals Beijing will grant as it weighs access to foreign chips against long-term technological self-reliance.</span>
