Semiconductor giant Nvidia faces unexpected new US export controls for its H20 chips.
In a filing on Tuesday, Nvidia said it had been notified by the US government that it would require a license to export H20 AI chips to China. According to submission, this license will be required indefinitely. The US government cited “the risk that (H20) will be used in Chinese supercomputers.”
Nvidia expects $5.5 billion in related expenses for the first quarter of 2026, ending April 27th. The company’s shares fell approximately 6% in extended transactions.
The H20 is the most advanced AI chip that Nvidia can export to China, based on current and previous US export regulations. Last week, NPR reported that CEO Jensen Huang may have escaped from the new H20 restrictions at a dinner at President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort.
Perhaps not so iconic, Nvidia announced Monday that it will spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next four years manufacturing several AI chips with US experts.
Several government officials have been calling for stronger export controls for the H20 as chips are said to have been used to train models from China-based AI startup DeepSeek, including the “inference” model for the R1 that threw the US AI market in January.
Nvidia declined to comment.