Controlled Thaw: US Clears NVIDIA H200 Chip Sales to China

The technological standoff between the US and China is moving into a phase of pragmatic bargaining. On May 14, 2026, the US Department of Commerce granted permission to sell NVIDIA H200 AI accelerators to ten Chinese tech companies.

This move is surprising only at first glance. Following Huawei’s recent forecast of its own AI chip revenue growing to $12 billion, Washington realized the risks of a total blockade. Depriving Chinese Big Tech of NVIDIA products entirely would only accelerate import substitution and the development of the Ascend architecture. Clearing H200 exports (with certain conditions) is a US attempt to maintain Chinese AI labs' dependence on American technologies and the CUDA architecture, preventing Beijing from definitively "uncoupling" from Western silicon ahead of Donald Trump’s visit.

Source: Reuters / AP News