On July 14 (local time), NVIDIA officially confirmed it will resume sales of its H20 GPU in China, months after U.S. export restrictions halted shipments. The company also announced a new fully compliant NVIDIA RTX PRO GPU tailored for the Chinese market, signaling a strategic pivot to maintain its presence amid tightening geopolitical controls.

The announcement follows NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang's recent visits to Washington and Beijing, where he promoted AI's transformative potential and met with policymakers and industry leaders. In China, Huang emphasized how AI can boost productivity and opportunity, and affirmed NVIDIA's commitment to supporting open-source research and foundational models globally.

During meetings with customers, Huang disclosed that NVIDIA had filed for export licenses to resume H20 GPU sales. The U.S. government has assured the company that licenses will be granted, enabling deliveries to begin soon. He also unveiled the RTX PRO GPU, which he described as "ideal for digital twin AI in smart factories and logistics."

The move comes after several months of uncertainty. In April, the U.S. imposed new export controls on AI chips, effectively halting sales of NVIDIA's H20 chip in China. The ban resulted in a $4.5 billion write-down in NVIDIA's fiscal Q1 and projected revenue losses of up to $8 billion in Q2.

Huang has been vocal in criticizing the export curbs, warning that they have had the opposite effect of what was intended. "The restrictions didn't slow China's AI development—they accelerated it," Huang said, pointing to the rise of domestic rivals like Huawei. He argued that blocking U.S. companies from participating in a market estimated to reach $50 billion in the next two to three years would be a "massive loss."

According to NVIDIA's latest earnings report, China contributed $17 billion in revenue in the last fiscal year—12.5% of its global total. Huang has actively lobbied for easing restrictions, noting that H20 and similar chips had already been downgraded to comply with earlier export rules.

"Our technology is only one generation ahead," Huang said. "If the U.S. doesn't want to participate, it will lose the China market. Huawei is already filling that gap—domestically and globally."

The renewed access may be linked to recent high-level talks between China and the U.S. In June, the two sides met in London to discuss technology trade issues, and the U.S. has since relaxed some controls, including lifting export bans on EDA software from Synopsys, Cadence, and Siemens EDA.

NVIDIA's dual move—restarting H20 sales and launching a compliant RTX PRO GPU—reflects a broader strategy to balance U.S. regulatory compliance with continued relevance in the world's second-largest AI chip market.