Nvidia GPUs Get Legitimate Route to China
Three interesting stories about selling US GPUs to China:
* July 14 a Reuters headline proclaimed Nvidia had begun shipping "powerful" H200s to China but the story went on to state that the number was "very few." The H200 is the nerfed version of Hopper, the generation before Blackwell (which has been supplanted by Rubin). Note that the US permits exports of H200s to China but China bans their import.
* July 13, FT reported Nvidia was halving the number of authorized Asian customers. Apparently China customers don't care for the H200 and would prefer to get something newer from the black market.
* The Information reports that China is lifting its H200 import ban.
My take is that China has to let some Nvidia GPUs in. Otherwise, the pressure to get them from the black market is too high, which neither the US nor the China govt wants. From Nvidia's perspective, H200 sales are free money, having written down its inventory (fact check needed). With or without Chinese customers, the company is sold out of newer designs and isn't hurt by a ban of current-gen products.
