Latest news with #Sacks
The Star
6 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Nvidia says it will resume sales of 'H20' AI chips to China
China represents a crucial market for Nvidia, but recent US export restrictions have intensified competition from local players like homegrown champion Huawei. — Photo by I-HWA CHENG/AFP BEIJING: US tech giant Nvidia announced Tuesday it will resume sales of its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing restrictions that had halted exports. The California-based company produces some of the world's most advanced semiconductors but cannot ship its most cutting-edge chips to China due to concerns that Beijing could use them to enhance military capabilities. Nvidia developed the H20 – a less powerful version of its AI processing units – specifically for export to China. However, that plan stalled when the Trump administration tightened export licensing requirements in April. "The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon," the company said in a statement Tuesday, adding it was "filing applications to sell the Nvidia H20 GPU again." CEO Jensen Huang, wearing his trademark black leather jacket, told reporters in a video published by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV: "I'm looking forward to shipping H20s very soon, and so I'm very happy with that very, very good news." Defending the policy change, Trump's AI Czar David Sacks told CNBC the H20 was a "deprecated chip" that is "not anywhere close to the state of the art." He said the reversal on the H20 came because Nvidia's Chinese rival Huawei was making "huge strides" and could potentially threaten Nvidia's market dominance. China represents a crucial market for Nvidia, but recent US export restrictions have intensified competition from local players like homegrown champion Huawei. "We don't want to sell China our latest greatest technology, but I do think we at least want to make it a little bit difficult for Huawei," Sacks said. Sacks also said that the decision was linked to ongoing trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing that are locked in a bitter trade feud. Beijing has criticised Washington's curbs as unfair and designed to hinder its development. 'Abrupt shifts' Zhang Guobin, founder of Chinese specialist website said the resumption would "bring substantial revenue growth, making up for losses caused by the previous ban." It would also ease trade friction impacts on the global semiconductor supply chain, he told AFP. However, he noted Chinese firms would remain focused on domestic chip development, adding that "the Trump administration has been prone to abrupt policy shifts, making it difficult to gauge how long such an opening might endure." Huang will attend a major supply chain gathering Wednesday, according to event organizers, his third trip to China this year, CCTV reported. During an April visit to Beijing, Huang told Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng he "looked favorably upon the potential of the Chinese economy" and was "willing to continue to plow deeply into the Chinese market and play a positive role in promoting US-China trade cooperation," state news agency Xinhua reported. The tightened US export curbs come as China's economy wavers, with domestic consumers reluctant to spend and a prolonged property sector crisis weighing on growth. President Xi Jinping has called for greater self-reliance amid increasing external uncertainty. The Financial Times reported in May that Nvidia was planning to build a research and development center in Shanghai, though neither Nvidia nor city authorities confirmed the project to AFP. China's economy grew 5.2 percent in the second quarter, official data showed Tuesday, as analysts had predicted strong exports despite trade war pressures. – AFP
Business Insider
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
White House AI czar says resuming Nvidia's chip sales to China is all about capping Huawei's growth
David Sacks, the White House's AI and crypto czar, said on Tuesday that allowing Nvidia to sell its chips in China again will help keep the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei at bay. "There is a compelling argument here that you just don't want to hand Huawei the entire Chinese market when Nvidia is capable of competing for a big slice of it with a deprecated, less capable chip," Sacks said in an interview with Bloomberg's Ed Ludlow. Nvidia said in a blog post on July 14 that it was "filing applications to sell the NVIDIA H20 GPU again." The H20 chip is a China-specific product that Nvidia developed to meet chip export restrictions that the Biden administration had imposed. The chip was designed to be technologically inferior as compared to Nvidia's other offerings. "The US government has assured NVIDIA that licenses will be granted, and NVIDIA hopes to start deliveries soon," the post added. In April, Nvidia said the Trump administration wanted them to apply for special licenses if they wanted to sell their chips to China. Nvidia said it expected a charge of up to $5.5 billion due to those restrictions. Sacks said on Tuesday that the administration's volte-face is "nuanced" and "makes a lot of sense" when you consider the threat posed by Huawei. "We're not selling our latest greatest chips to China, but we can deprive Huawei of basically having this giant market share in China that they can then use to scale up and compete with us globally," Sacks told Ludlow. Last month, Sacks said in a separate interview with Bloomberg that " overly restrictive" chip export controls would hurt rather than help US tech dominance. "China is maybe one and a half to two years behind us in chip design. But Huawei is moving fast to catch up. And even before they fully caught up, I think you will see them exporting their chips for the global market," Sacks said. Sacks isn't the only one who's wary of Huawei. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, said in an interview with the Financial Times published in March that Huawei is the " single most formidable technology company" in China. Huang said Huawei's "presence in AI is growing every single year" and Nvidia "can't assume they are not going to be a factor." "They have conquered every market they've engaged," Huang said of Huawei. He added that the US government's attempts to cap Huawei have been "done poorly." Nvidia's stock climbed by as much as 5% on Tuesday after it said it would resume its chip sales to China.
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Business Standard
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Trump AI czar Sacks defends reversal of chip export curbs to China
By Brunella Tipismana Urbano and Ed Ludlow White House AI adviser David Sacks defended the Trump administration's decision to allow Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to resume sales of some artificial intelligence chips to China, reversing export curbs imposed by the US earlier this year. In an interview Tuesday, Sacks said that allowing Nvidia to restart shipments of its H20 chips would position the US to compete more effectively abroad and blunt efforts by Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co. to gain a bigger slice of the global market. 'We are not selling the latest and greatest chips to China, but we can deprive Huawei of having this giant market share in China that they can then use to scale up and compete globally,' Sacks said on Bloomberg Television. 'The policy is nuanced and it makes a lot of sense.' The move is seen as a win for Nvidia's Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, who met last week with President Donald Trump after spending months arguing for a letup in US restrictions on sales to Chinese customers. 'Jensen has been making the case publicly for competing in China and there are a lot of merits to the argument,' Sacks said. Revived sales of the H20 promise to restore billions in revenue for Nvidia this year, according to the company. The H20 was originally designed to comply with export controls imposed under the Biden administration, but in April, the Trump administration tightened those rules to block sales to China of the H20 and AMD's MI308 chip without a license. The tighter curbs prompted Nvidia to announce a $4.5 billion writedown on H20 chip inventory in its fiscal first quarter and warn of an additional potential loss of $8 billion in sales. AMD said it would take an $800 million charge for its second quarter of 2025. Sacks pushed back on criticism that allowing H20 sales to China poses a security risk, calling the H20 'a deprecated chip.' He warned that other countries are choosing between US and Chinese technology. 'If you don't let these countries buy American tech, you're pushing them into China's arms,' he said. Trump officials had previously insisted the H20 chip sales curbs weren't up for negotiation. Sacks said the policy shift fits into what he described as a broader push to establish an 'American AI stack' — encompassing chips, operating systems, and the AI models that run on them. 'It's a zero-sum game,' he said. 'We want it all to be American-made and American-powered. If we hobble our own companies, we're handing an advantage to China.' The reversal follows months of diplomacy between Washington and Beijing. As part of a trade truce unveiled last month, the US has eased some restrictions on exports, including chip-design software, in exchange for greater Chinese cooperation on sales of rare-earth minerals — a key input for many high-tech products. Earlier Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged that restrictions on Nvidia's H20 chips were part of US-China talks in London, despite his own earlier assertions that there was no such quid pro quo tying semiconductors and rare earths.
Sharjah 24
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Sharjah 24
Nvidia says it will resume sales of 'H20' AI chips to China
The California-based company produces some of the world's most advanced semiconductors but cannot ship its most cutting-edge chips to China due to concerns that Beijing could use them to enhance military capabilities. Nvidia developed the H20 -- a less powerful version of its AI processing units -- specifically for export to China. However, that plan stalled when the Trump administration tightened export licensing requirements in April. "The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon," the company said in a statement Tuesday, adding it was "filing applications to sell the Nvidia H20 GPU again." CEO Jensen Huang, wearing his trademark black leather jacket, told reporters in a video published by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV: "I'm looking forward to shipping H20s very soon, and so I'm very happy with that very, very good news." Defending the policy change, Trump's AI Czar David Sacks told CNBC the H20 was a "deprecated chip" that is "not anywhere close to the state of the art." He said the reversal on the H20 came because Nvidia's Chinese rival Huawei was making "huge strides" and could potentially threaten Nvidia's market dominance. China represents a crucial market for Nvidia, but recent US export restrictions have intensified competition from local players like homegrown champion Huawei. "We don't want to sell China our latest greatest technology, but I do think we at least want to make it a little bit difficult for Huawei," Sacks said. Sacks also said that the decision was linked to ongoing trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing that are locked in a bitter trade feud. Beijing has criticized Washington's curbs as unfair and designed to hinder its development. 'Abrupt shifts' Zhang Guobin, founder of Chinese specialist website said the resumption would "bring substantial revenue growth, making up for losses caused by the previous ban." It would also ease trade friction impacts on the global semiconductor supply chain, he told AFP. However, he noted Chinese firms would remain focused on domestic chip development, adding that "the Trump administration has been prone to abrupt policy shifts, making it difficult to gauge how long such an opening might endure." Huang will attend a major supply chain gathering Wednesday, according to event organizers, his third trip to China this year, CCTV reported. During an April visit to Beijing, Huang told Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng he "looked favorably upon the potential of the Chinese economy" and was "willing to continue to plow deeply into the Chinese market and play a positive role in promoting US-China trade cooperation," state news agency Xinhua reported. The tightened US export curbs come as China's economy wavers, with domestic consumers reluctant to spend and a prolonged property sector crisis weighing on growth. President Xi Jinping has called for greater self-reliance amid increasing external uncertainty. The Financial Times reported in May that Nvidia was planning to build a research and development center in Shanghai, though neither Nvidia nor city authorities confirmed the project to AFP. China's economy grew 5.2 percent in the second quarter, official data showed Tuesday, as analysts had predicted strong exports despite trade war pressures.
Al-Ahram Weekly
6 days ago
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Nvidia says it will resume sales of 'H20' AI chips to China - Tech
US tech giant Nvidia announced Tuesday it will resume sales of its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing restrictions that had halted exports. Related Nvidia to build supercomputer chips entirely in US for first time The California-based company produces some of the world's most advanced semiconductors but cannot ship its most cutting-edge chips to China due to concerns that Beijing could use them to enhance military capabilities. Nvidia developed the H20, a less powerful version of its AI processing units, specifically for export to China. However, that plan stalled when the Trump administration tightened export licensing requirements in April. "The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon," the company said in a statement Tuesday, adding it was "filing applications to sell the Nvidia H20 GPU again." CEO Jensen Huang, wearing his trademark black leather jacket, told reporters in a video published by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV: "I'm looking forward to shipping H20s very soon, and so I'm very happy with that very, very good news." Defending the policy change, Trump's AI Czar David Sacks told CNBC the H20 was a "deprecated chip" that is "not anywhere close to the state of the art." He said the reversal on the H20 came because Nvidia's Chinese rival Huawei was making "huge strides" and could potentially threaten Nvidia's market dominance. China represents a crucial market for Nvidia, but recent US export restrictions have intensified competition from local players like homegrown champion Huawei. "We don't want to sell China our latest greatest technology, but I do think we at least want to make it a little bit difficult for Huawei," Sacks said. Sacks also said that the decision was linked to ongoing trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing that are locked in a bitter trade feud. Beijing has criticized Washington's curbs as unfair and designed to hinder its development. 'Abrupt shifts' Zhang Guobin, founder of Chinese specialist website said the resumption would "bring substantial revenue growth, making up for losses caused by the previous ban." It would also ease trade friction impacts on the global semiconductor supply chain, he told AFP. However, he noted Chinese firms would remain focused on domestic chip development, adding that "the Trump administration has been prone to abrupt policy shifts, making it difficult to gauge how long such an opening might endure." Huang will attend a major supply chain gathering Wednesday, according to event organizers, his third trip to China this year, CCTV reported. During an April visit to Beijing, Huang told Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng he "looked favorably upon the potential of the Chinese economy" and was "willing to continue to plow deeply into the Chinese market and play a positive role in promoting US-China trade cooperation," state news agency Xinhua reported. The tightened US export curbs come as China's economy wavers, with domestic consumers reluctant to spend and a prolonged property sector crisis weighing on growth. President Xi Jinping has called for greater self-reliance amid increasing external uncertainty. The Financial Times reported in May that Nvidia was planning to build a research and development center in Shanghai, though neither Nvidia nor city authorities confirmed the project to AFP. China's economy grew 5.2 percent in the second quarter, official data showed Tuesday, as analysts had predicted strong exports despite trade war pressures. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
