Nvidia CEO Huang visits Beijing amid US export curbs on H20 AI chips

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met Chinese officials in Beijing after US imposed fresh export curbs on H20 AI chips, a move that may cost the company $5.5 billion in quarterly charges

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made a trip to Beijing, where he met with Chinese officials shortly after the company revealed that the US government will now require a licence for exporting its H20 chips to China — a change Nvidia estimates could result in a $5.5 billion loss.

 

Huang’s visit on Thursday was at the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, a government-backed organisation supporting Chinese exporters, South China Morning Post reported.

 

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang arrived in Beijing on Thursday at the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. Three months ago, Huang made a statement in China that he wanted to continue to cooperate with China, Yuyuantantian, according to a report… pic.twitter.com/T5zeG0Qm4Y

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) April 17, 2025

 

Nvidia faces $5.5 billion hit

 

On Tuesday, Nvidia announced that it will record a quarterly charge of around $5.5 billion due to new restrictions on exporting its H20 graphics processing units to China and other regions. This disclosure led to a more than 6 per cent decline in the company’s stock during after-hours trading. The US government informed Nvidia last week that it must now secure a licence to ship these chips to China and several other countries, a recent regulatory filing stated. 

 

 

The H20 chip was developed to comply with earlier US export regulations from 2022 and 2023. Despite these constraints, the chip generated estimated revenues between $12 billion and $15 billion last year.

 

However, Huang noted in February that revenue from China had dropped by half since the restrictions were introduced. China remains the company’s fourth-largest market, behind the US, Singapore, and Taiwan.

 

The H20 is based on Nvidia’s Hopper AI architecture but offers slower speeds than the H100 and H200 models sold elsewhere. Nvidia is now pivoting toward its newer Blackwell-series chips. 

   

Meanwhile, the US has indefinitely extended the licensing requirement and is planning further controls under proposed "AI diffusion rules." Nvidia warns these restrictions may weaken America’s global tech leadership.