Jan 7 (Reuters) – Beijing has asked some Chinese technology companies to stop ordering Nvidia’s H200 chips this week and is expected to force the purchase of domestic artificial intelligence chips, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Nvidia is caught in a dilemma between Washington and Beijing as the United States tightens export controls on advanced semiconductors used in artificial intelligence and Chinese companies seek to reduce their reliance on U.S.-designed chips.
Technology trade tensions have been a central feature of the broader U.S.-China conflict, with semiconductors becoming a strategic flashpoint.
China’s directive to halt orders comes as the government considers whether and under what conditions to allow the use of Nvidia’s high-performance chips.
Beijing aims to stop local tech companies from rushing to hoard US goods, the report said, needing leverage before making a decision.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, said: “China is committed to realizing national development based on its own advantages, and is also willing to maintain dialogue and cooperation with all parties to maintain the stability of global industrial and supply chains.”
Nvidia did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment, and China’s Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology did not immediately return calls outside business hours.
Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said at the Consumer Electronics Show this week that Chinese demand for its H200 chips was strong and that the company was viewing the purchase orders as a sign of approval rather than expecting any formal announcement from Beijing.
U.S. chip export licenses are still being processed and no timetable has been set.
Late last year, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration approved the export of H200 chips to China, a major reversal from a previous ban on advanced artificial intelligence hardware.
The approval is conditional on the company paying a unique 25% revenue-sharing tax to the U.S. government.
The H200 is the predecessor to Nvidia’s current flagship “Blackwell” chip.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Shinjini Ganguli)
