US lawmakers want disclosure of license reviews for Nvidia H200 chip sales to China

Two senior Democratic lawmakers have asked ​the US ⁠Commerce Department to disclose details and any approvals of ongoing license reviews for potential sales to Chinese firms of Nvidia's second-most powerful AI chips.

President Donald Trump this month said he would allow sales of Nvidia's H200 chips to ‌China, with the US government collecting a 25 percent fee.

Trump ⁠said ‌the sales would help keep US firms ahead ‍of Chinese chipmakers by cutting demand for Chinese chips.

US senator Elizabeth Warren and representative Gregory Meeks in a letter asked the US Commerce Department to disclose all license applications for the H200 chips for Chinese companies and disclose any approved licenses within 48 hours of ‍the approval date.

The lawmakers also want a briefing on the issue before approvals are issued, including "an assessment of the military potential ‌of the chips approved for export and the reaction of allies and partners to the decision to export these chips," according to the letter, which was seen by Reuters.

Warren earlier this month called on Congress to compel Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to testify before lawmakers, and said Trump's decision to allow H200 sales to Chinese companies "risks turbo-charging China's bid for technological and military dominance and undermining US economic and national security."

The Commerce Department and Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump's announcement represented a major policy shift from the Biden administration, which banned advanced AI chip sales to China due to national security concerns.

Last ‌week, Reuters reported that the Commerce Department has launched a review that could result in the ‌first shipments of H200 chips to China.

Warren and Meeks also want to see the text of any government-to-government agreement the Trump administration signed to allow the shipments as well as the ‌Commerce Department's "assessment of the performance of the most advanced chips (China) is producing indigenously, as well as how many chips (China) has the capacity to produce."

Reuters, citing sources, reported earlier that Nvidia told Chinese clients that the ​company aims to start shipping the H200 chips to China before the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.

Reuters reported that Nvidia plans to fulfill initial orders from existing stock, with shipments ⁠expected to ​total 5000 to 10,000 chip modules - equivalent to about 40,000 to 80,000 H200 AI chips.