Small batches of Nvidia's H200 AI chips have been allowed to enter mainland China, with ByteDance and Tencent each receiving about 10,000 processors in recent weeks, the Financial Times reported, citing two people with knowledge of the matter, according to Reuters. The deliveries would mark the first meaningful movement of the chips into mainland China since President Trump approved their export last December.
The U.S. has cleared the companies to purchase up to 100,000 H200 chips each, but Beijing wants them to keep the hardware outside mainland China to support the growth of domestic chipmakers, according to the FT report.
The report added that Chinese regulators have told companies they can ship the processors to Hong Kong, which operates outside mainland China's customs border, and use them there.
A few other Chinese technology firms could soon secure similar shipments, according to the FT report. The H200 ranks among Nvidia's most powerful AI chips.
The development follows a period of minimal movement on the licenses. As recently as mid-July, a U.S. trade official told a congressional hearing that only a very small quantity of chips had shipped against the approvals.
Reuters could not immediately verify the FT report, and Nvidia did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
