Nvidia has not yet sold its H200 AI chips to China, Lutnick says

A smartphone with a displayed NVIDIA logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) - Nvidia's powerful H200 AI chips have not yet been sold to Chinese companies, Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Wednesday, citing difficulties faced by those firms to get permission from the Chinese government.  

"The Chinese central government has not let them, as of yet, buy the chips, because they're trying to keep their investment focused on their own domestic industry," Lutnick said, when asked about H200 sales to China. 

"We have not sold them chips as of yet," he added.

The Trump administration in January gave a formal green light to China-bound sales of Nvidia's H200 chips with some conditions, igniting deep concerns among China hawks in Washington who fear Beijing will harness the technology to supercharge its military.

But shipments of the chips have been stymied by disagreements over the terms of the sales both in China and the U.S., sources have said.

Lutnick was also asked on Wednesday if the Trump administration planned to reimpose a rule that would have restricted shipments of advanced U.S. technology to thousands of Chinese companies.

The regulation, known as the affiliates rule, was delayed for a year in November as part of a trade negotiation with China.

"I agree that the affiliates rule is a smart thing for the United States of America to consider, but it is part of the balance of that full trade agreement," Lutnick said.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; editing by Chris Sanders)