“I don’t think I changed his mind” — NVIDIA CEO comments on H20 AI GPU sales resuming in China following a meeting with President Trump

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On July 10, 2025, NVIDIA achieved the unprecedented milestone of reaching a market capitalization of $4 trillion, and since then, its upward trajectory has continued unabated.

At the moment I’m writing this on July 18, NVIDIA has a significant market valuation of approximately $4.19 trillion, surpassing Microsoft which stands at $3.83 trillion as the runner-up.

A significant contributor to NVIDIA surpassing the $4T mark is the approval granted by the U.S. government, allowing the company to restart sales of H20 AI GPUs in China.

On July 14, it was formally announced through an NVIDIA blog post that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang had struck a deal during a visit to the White House with President Trump.

NVIDIA designed its H20 AI processors explicitly for the Chinese market, serving as a response to the stringent export restrictions imposed by the U.S. government on H100 and H200 chips, which boast greater power capabilities.

Despite noticeable differences in performance between NVIDIA’s AI processors, the H20 models were initially prohibited from sale in the Chinese market by U.S. authorities in April, due to complications arising from the ongoing trade dispute.

As a result, NVIDIA received an influx of approximately $5.5 billion due to its efforts to adapt to the newly imposed limitations.

Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, spending $1 million on a dinner with then-US President Trump at Mar-A-Lago prior to the April H20 ban had no impact on the outcome.

It seems that something has shifted from the past situation to the present that now enables NVIDIA to resume selling its H20 AI GPUs in China. Can you help clarify what these changes are and the reasons behind this decision?

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang knows how to lobby for his chips

It’s not without cause that the U.S. ban on H20 AI GPUs sales to China was lifted. As one might expect, the CEO of NVIDIA has been actively advocating for their chips to be marketed globally.

According to a recent blog post from NVIDIA, the company has announced it will once again sell its H20 products in China. In a statement, the CEO, Huang, was quoted as expressing: “We are excited to reintroduce our H20 offerings to the Chinese market.

It’s our conviction that optimal performance for any civil model lies with the American technological infrastructure, thereby motivating countries globally to adopt U.S. tech solutions.

As a tech-savvy individual, I’ve been keeping an eye on the news, and it appears that the latest report from The New York Times sheds some light on the current state of affairs. Seems like this could be a good topic to discuss, especially if we’re aiming for clarity and understanding.

A significant aspect of Huang’s perspective is maintaining U.S.-made AI chips as the worldwide benchmark, even during tense times. He believes deviating from this could result in a serious error, effectively allowing domestic competitors such as Huawei to seize China’s vast market share.

Since April, NVIDIA’s CEO has been actively engaging with David Sacks, the present AI advisor in the U.S. government, who has been working on revising certain regulations concerning chip exports to foreign nations, which were initially set by the Biden administration.

Observing here, I noticed a significant development: NVIDIA’s strategic return to markets such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was facilitated by a high-profile AI agreement, initially set to proceed but subsequently paused due to concerns about potential chip distribution to China. Quite intriguing, isn’t it?

Despite appearing unexpected for a global political force, given his electrical engineering background, Huang maintains a modest demeanor after the reversal of the H20 ban, following his latest White House meeting with President Trump.

According to the New York Times, Huang stated that he doesn’t believe he altered the president’s viewpoint. Instead, it’s his duty to share with the president the information about the technology sector, artificial intelligence, and global advancements in AI.

What’s the right approach to selling AI GPUs around the world?

There’s certainly an argument to be made for both sides of this predicament.

It’s reasonable for NVIDIA’s CEO to argue that restricting US hardware sales in China could encourage more consumers to turn towards companies like Huawei instead.

It’s unfavorable news for NVIDIA, as they dominate around 90% of the AI chip market at present. However, this development is not just detrimental to NVIDIA; it poses challenges for the entire American industry as well.

Recently, the stock market has shown promising signs, yet its growth is predominantly driven by a select few AI-related companies, with NVIDIA being one of them. The rest of the market seems to be holding steady without significant fluctuations.

From another perspective, selling American chips directly to China significantly bolsters their artificial intelligence aspirations, which are currently only slightly behind those of US companies. This is not a competition the US wishes to forfeit.

There appears to be a complex web of international maneuvering taking place, which is beyond my comprehension, but it clearly presents a challenging scenario without an obvious solution.

The NVIDIA H20 AI GPU can be seen as a modified version of the H100, designed primarily for sale within China, due to export restrictions.

Although it doesn’t match up to the performance level of the H100 or the H200, this particular chip is remarkably sought-after for managing AI tasks and is currently utilized by giants such as Alibaba and Tencent.

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2025-07-19 00:39