Chinese authorities have officially granted approval for multiple technology companies to purchase Nvidia H200 AI chips. This pivotal decision marks the restart of production for the highly sought-after processors following extensive regulatory delays. At Nvidia’s recent GTC conference on Tuesday, Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang confirmed that the company has secured the necessary export and import licenses from both the United States and China, enabling the fulfillment of incoming purchase orders.
The path to resuming sales in the region has been closely watched by investors and tech industry leaders. This latest development indicates that Beijing is moving toward formally allowing the importation of advanced artificial intelligence hardware, unlocking massive demand from some of the largest digital platforms in the world.
Tech Giants Prepare Hardware Orders
Several major corporations, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Tencent Holdings Ltd., and ByteDance Ltd., have received in-principle approval to begin preparing their hardware orders. These firms are now cleared to negotiate specific quantities with the American chipmaker. In private discussions, Alibaba and ByteDance have already expressed interest in acquiring more than 200,000 units each.
However, the approvals come with strict stipulations. The Chinese government is requiring companies to purchase a certain amount of domestically produced hardware as a condition for buying the Nvidia H200 AI chips, although an exact quota has not yet been established. Furthermore, the newly approved processors will be strictly barred from being utilized by sensitive government agencies or integrated into critical infrastructure.
Rebuilding a Lost Market
These finalized approvals follow a period of intense uncertainty regarding Nvidia’s revenue prospects in the region. During an earnings call last month, Chief Financial Officer Colette M. Kress stated that the company had yet to generate any revenue from its H200 products in China. At the time, Kress noted that while the U.S. government had authorized small product allocations for China-based customers, the company remained unsure if actual imports would be permitted by Beijing.
Huang has previously voiced his frustration over these trade barriers, noting that the company’s regional market share plummeted from 95 percent to nearly zero. Both executives have publicly urged American policymakers to support the global adoption of U.S. technology to prevent the permanent loss of major international markets.
Security Warnings Target OpenClaw
As hardware sales prepare to rebound, Nvidia and the broader technology sector are navigating new software controversies. The Chinese government recently issued urgent security warnings regarding OpenClaw, a highly popular open-source AI agent. Cybersecurity regulators have instructed all state-owned enterprises and government agencies to ban the software from their devices, citing severe risks related to data leaks, the exposure of sensitive information, and accidental file deletion.
Real-world incidents have validated these concerns. In one case, an OpenClaw instance maxed out a user’s credit card, while a Meta safety executive helplessly watched a bot delete her entire email inbox. Research firm Gartner labeled the tool an unacceptable risk, advising companies to block all related network traffic, and Meta has strictly banned it from employee laptops.
Despite these glaring vulnerabilities, enthusiasm remains high. The software requires deep system access to autonomously read emails, manage calendars, and run scripts in the background. Engineers in China have been waiting in long lines to install it, occasionally wearing lobster hats in reference to the software’s logo. Local governments previously offered computing subsidies, and tech giants like Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba quickly launched their own versions to drive cloud service usage.
At the GTC event, Huang enthusiastically described OpenClaw as “the new computer,” comparing its foundational impact to HTML and Linux. To address the mounting security fears, Nvidia unveiled NemoClaw, an enterprise-grade version equipped with strict privacy controls and network guardrails.
DOJ Antitrust Scrutiny Over Acquihires
Back in the United States, Nvidia’s aggressive expansion strategies are attracting federal scrutiny. Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi, the top U.S. antitrust regulator, recently told Reuters that the practice of “acquihires” by major tech companies represents a significant red flag.
An acquihire occurs when a large corporation pays substantial sums to a promising startup to acquire its technology and personnel without executing a formal corporate buyout. Traditional mergers require companies to submit detailed transaction information to federal enforcers for review. Regulators increasingly view acquihires as a deliberate tactic to bypass this mandatory merger oversight.
Assefi explicitly pointed to a deal Nvidia struck in December. In that transaction, the chipmaker agreed to license processor technology from the artificial intelligence startup Groq and hired the startup’s CEO, but stopped short of outright purchasing the business. Assefi noted that corporate behavior designed to sidestep the standard review process inevitably raises alarms among federal enforcers and litigators.
