Nvidia's Big China Chip Deal is Approved But Stuck in Limbo-Jensen Huang Heads to Beijing with Trump to Try Breaking the Deadlock.

The U.S. has given the green light to around 10 major Chinese companies to buy Nvidia’s powerful H200 AI chips its second most advanced offering but not a single chip has actually been delivered yet. This major tech deal is now hanging in the balance, even as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang travels to Beijing this week hoping to finally get things moving.

Huang wasn’t originally part of the White House delegation, but President Donald Trump invited him along. Trump even picked him up in Alaska on the way to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. Many see this as a big opportunity to unblock the stalled sales.

Before stricter U.S. export rules kicked in, Nvidia dominated China’s advanced chip market with roughly 95% share. China used to make up 13% of Nvidia’s revenue, and Huang had projected the country’s AI market alone could be worth $50 billion this year. That’s a huge prize that’s now at risk.

The approved Chinese buyers include heavyweights like Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com. Distributors such as Lenovo and Foxconn have also been cleared to help sell the chips. Each approved customer can buy up to 75,000 H200 chips, either directly from Nvidia or through these partners.

Despite the approvals, no deals have closed. Chinese companies reportedly pulled back after receiving guidance from Beijing. There’s growing pressure in China to either block the purchases or heavily vet them, as the government wants to protect and push its own homegrown AI chip industry especially chips from companies like Huawei. Some Chinese firms are already shifting toward domestic options.

On top of that, there are complicated conditions from the U.S. side: buyers must prove strong security measures and promise not to use the chips for military purposes. Nvidia also has to certify it has enough stock in the U.S. Plus, Trump struck a deal where the U.S. gets 25% of the revenue from these sales which means the chips have to physically pass through American territory first.

This setup has made Beijing uneasy about possible tampering or hidden risks. Recent Chinese regulations on supply chain security have added even more scrutiny, with a big push to reduce reliance on foreign tech in critical areas.

The delays are being cheered by some U.S. hardliners who argue that selling more chips to China hurts America’s own AI lead. Others worry it puts Nvidia’s business interests ahead of national security.

In short, even when both governments say “yes” on paper, deep strategic rivalry and bureaucracy are keeping one of the world’s most important tech deals frozen in place.