China Approves DeepSeek’s Purchase of Nvidia Chips

China allows DeepSeek to buy Nvidia's H200 chips.

China has granted its leading AI startup, DeepSeek, permission to purchase Nvidia’s H200 chips, according to Reuters, citing sources.

ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent have also received approval to acquire over 400,000 chips in total.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated he was unaware of the new decision. According to him, Chinese authorities are still finalizing the licensing conditions.

“It is in the final stages. I hope the Chinese government will allow Nvidia to sell the chips. I am looking forward to a favorable decision,” he said.

According to Reuters, China’s ministries of industry and trade have approved the import under certain conditions that are still being developed. These are determined by the National Development and Reform Commission.

In January, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump officially authorized the sale of Nvidia’s second most powerful AI chips, the H200, to China. However, the Chinese government informed some tech companies that purchases would only be approved in special cases, such as for university research.

Under U.S. regulations, an independent testing laboratory must verify the chips’ technical capabilities in artificial intelligence before they can be sold.

China is allowed to receive no more than 50% of the total semiconductors sold to American clients.

Nvidia must confirm that there is a sufficient quantity of H200 in the U.S., and Chinese clients must demonstrate “security measures” and refrain from using the chips for military purposes.

Back in December 2025, Nvidia developed technology to verify the location of its processors.