Nvidia announced Tuesday that the U.S. government will require a license to export H20 AI chips to China indefinitely, citing concerns that the chips could be used in a Chinese supercomputer. The company anticipates related charges of $5.5 billion in its Q1 2026 fiscal year.
According to an Nvidia filing, the U.S. government communicated the new export control requirement. The H20 chip is the most advanced AI chip Nvidia can export to China under existing U.S. export regulations.
Recent reports indicate that stronger export controls on the H20 were prompted by the chip’s alleged use in training models from the China-based AI startup DeepSeek, including the R1 “reasoning” model. Previously, last week, NPR reported on CEO Jensen Huang’s discussion with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago regarding H20 restrictions and Nvidia’s commitment to invest in U.S. AI data centers.
Nvidia announced Monday plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next four years manufacturing AI chips in the U.S., however, the details of this commitment were not fully disclosed. Nvidia stock decreased by around 6% in extended trading. Nvidia declined to comment.
