China has conditionally approved its leading AI startup DeepSeek to buy Nvidia’s H200 AI chips, with regulatory requirements still being finalised. The decision would add DeepSeek to a growing list of Chinese firms seeking access to the H200, one of Nvidia’s most powerful data-centre chips.
The reported approval follows earlier developments in which ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent were allowed to purchase more than 400,000 H200 chips in total, suggesting Beijing is moving from broad caution to selective, case-by-case permissions. Separate coverage has described the approvals as a shift after weeks of uncertainty over whether China would allow imports, even as US export licensing was moving forward.
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang, speaking in Taipei, said the company had not received confirmation of DeepSeek’s clearance and indicated the licensing process is still being finalised, underscoring the uncertainty for suppliers and buyers. China’s industry and commerce ministries have been involved in approvals, with conditions reportedly shaped by the state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission.
The H200 has become a high-stakes flashpoint in US-China tech ties because access to top-tier chips directly affects AI capability and competitiveness. US political scrutiny is also rising: a senior US lawmaker has alleged Nvidia provided technical support that helped DeepSeek develop advanced models later used by China’s military, according to a letter published by the House Select Committee on China; Nvidia has pushed back against such claims in subsequent reporting.
DeepSeek is also preparing a next-generation model, V4, expected in mid-February, according to reporting that cited people familiar with the matter, which makes access to high-end compute especially consequential for timelines and performance.
Why does it matter?
If China’s conditional approvals translate into real shipments, they could ease a key bottleneck for Chinese AI development while extending Nvidia’s footprint in a market constrained by geopolitics. At the same time, the episode highlights how AI hardware is now regulated not only by Washington’s export controls but also by Beijing’s import approvals, with companies caught between shifting policy priorities. With US lawmakers pressing for tighter safeguards and China balancing demand against strategic risk, the way these H200 decisions are implemented may signal whether the two sides are entering a more permissive phase for certain ‘frontier’ chips or simply refining a narrower, more controlled pipeline.
