DeepSeek's Bid for Nvidia H200 Chips Delayed Over Regulatory Hurdles

- Regulatory hurdles delay China’s provisional approval for Nvidia H200 AI chips. - DeepSeek, Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent await clearance for purchases totaling over 400,000 units. On January 30, 2026, CoinDesk reported that China provisionally approved several leading domestic firms, including the AI startup DeepSeek and tech giants Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent, to purchase Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips. These chips are pivotal for advancing AI technologies and central to the escalating technological competition between China and the United States. While regulators approved Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent to collectively procure over 400,000 H200 chips, authorities are handling DeepSeek's approval separately under the same regulatory framework. However, since Chinese authorities, including the National Development and Reform Commission, have not yet finalized critical regulatory conditions, all chip shipments have been legally suspended. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that the company has not received formal confirmation of the approvals, emphasizing that China’s licensing process is still ongoing. The H200 chips, Nvidia’s second-most advanced processors, hold significant value for AI development and remain a key focal point in U.S.-China trade relations. Although the U.S. government has authorized their export to China, Beijing's regulatory clearance is essential for their import. China’s decision to grant provisional approval appears to be a strategic balancing act, as the country seeks to secure short-term access to vital AI hardware while advancing its broader goal to strengthen domestic semiconductor capabilities. This development also has geopolitical implications, with a senior U.S. lawmaker recently voicing concerns over Nvidia’s perceived involvement in supporting DeepSeek’s AI models, which the Chinese military reportedly later utilized. Currently, the situation remains fluid, as Chinese regulators work to finalize the necessary conditions and Nvidia awaits a formal decision. These developments underscore the strategic importance of AI chips in shaping the global landscape of technological power.