The meeting between the two leaders did not turn out to be a happy one
As Logos Press previously reported, U.S. authorities have authorized about ten Chinese companies to purchase Nvidia H200 gas pedals, one of the company’s most powerful AI chips. Among the potential buyers were Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance and JD.com.
However, no delivery has yet taken place. According to Reuters and Bloomberg, the Chinese authorities have become more cautious about buying American AI chips amid Beijing’s policy of technological independence and support for its own semiconductor manufacturers.
Nvidia risks losing one of its biggest markets
Hopes for a breakthrough were linked to the recent summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, which was attended by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
However, the talks did not result in unlocking H200 shipments. After the meeting, Donald Trump said that China has actually refused to buy American chips as it relies on developing its own technology, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Against this backdrop, Beijing is stepping up support for local manufacturers, including Huawei, which is gradually building up its position in the domestic AI gas pedal market.
Before the tightening of export restrictions, Nvidia controlled the majority of the Chinese AI chip market. However, a series of U.S. restrictions and China’s retaliatory measures have sharply reduced the company’s position.
According to analysts, China remains a critical market for Nvidia, as the country is home to a significant portion of the world’s AI developers and large data centers.
At the same time, the uncertainty surrounding the export regime complicates long-term planning for both U.S. chip makers and Chinese technology companies.
A new phase of technological confrontation
The situation around the H200 shows that the conflict between the US and China goes beyond direct export restrictions. Even with official authorizations, deals can be blocked by political and strategic considerations.
For the global AI market, this means further fragmentation of the technological ecosystem and acceleration of China’s course to create its own independent infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
For Nvidia, the situation is more than ambiguous. On the one hand, the company has made serious efforts to get the US authorities to lift trade restrictions on the supply of chips to China. Thus, as if going against Washington’s official geopolitical course.
On the other hand, this step more clearly highlighted the contours of the technological confrontation between the U.S. and China, which has become an integral part of geopolitics.
Nvidia needs China’s market, China needs chips. But there is geopolitics in between.
