US Lawmakers Accuse Nvidia of Aiding Chinese Military AI

The Nvidia Corporation is navigating a volatile regulatory environment as it attempts to resume sales of its H200 AI chips in China. While President Donald Trump reached an agreement with President Xi Jinping to allow H200 exports to vetted customers in exchange for a 25 percent fee, the process has been marred by conflicting reports and security allegations.

Reports initially indicated that the Government of China granted conditional approval for tech giants Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent to purchase over 400,000 H200 chips, valued up to $16 billion. However, CEO Jensen Huang stated in Taipei that official licenses are still being finalized and no new orders have been placed. Additional reports suggest the AI startup DeepSeek also received conditional approval, though the National Development and Reform Commission is still determining final regulatory terms.

Simultaneously, the House Select Committee on China has accused Nvidia of a security failure. Chairman John Moolenaar informed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that Nvidia provided extensive technical assistance to DeepSeek, helping the firm optimize AI models now used by the People's Liberation Army. Moolenaar argued that such technical co-design enabled the Chinese military to achieve training efficiencies that outpace typical US models. Nvidia denied these claims, asserting that the Chinese military does not depend on American technology and that DeepSeek was treated as a legitimate commercial partner.