WASHINGTON – A senior Commerce Department official confirmed during congressional testimony Tuesday that Chinese companies have yet to receive any of Nvidia’s highly sophisticated H200 artificial intelligence processors.
When questioned about these sought-after semiconductors during the hearing, Commerce Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement David Peters responded, “My understanding is that none so far.”
Neither Nvidia nor the Chinese Embassy in Washington provided immediate responses to inquiries about the chip deliveries.
Last month, the Trump administration officially authorized conditional exports of Nvidia’s H200 processors to China, a decision that sparked criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as well as former government officials.
The current administration’s approach, championed by White House AI czar David Sacks, argues that allowing these advanced chip sales to China will prevent Chinese rivals like the heavily sanctioned Huawei from intensifying their efforts to develop competing technology that could match Nvidia and AMD’s cutting-edge designs.
However, national security advocates worry these sophisticated processors could be redirected from civilian applications to boost China’s military capabilities and potentially undermine America’s artificial intelligence leadership.
Currently, actual deliveries of these processors remain on hold due to protective measures incorporated into the approval process.
