NVIDIA
Nvidia’s chips are banned, so how are China’s models still thriving?
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has praised China’s top generative AI models, DeepSeek, Alibaba, Tencent, MiniMax, and Baidu’s Ernie, describing them as “world-class” and crediting their open-source approach for pushing AI development forward globally.
His comments came just as Nvidia announced plans to restart shipments of its H20 chips to China, following a pause earlier this year due to U.S. export rules.
Despite ongoing restrictions, more than 1.5 million developers in China are actively building on Nvidia’s platforms.
Huang highlighted open-source models like Moonshot’s Kimi K2, which recently claimed better coding performance than ChatGPT and Claude.
He also pointed out how AI is already baked into everyday Chinese apps like WeChat, Taobao, and Douyin.
Quick takes:
Nvidia’s H20 chips are set to return to China after U.S. approval.
China’s open-source AI models are accelerating fast and making waves globally.
Tensions are still there, but both sides are loosening their grip slightly.
Nvidia has taken a financial hit from the restrictions, missing out on billions in sales.
But after recent trade talks between the U.S. and China, there are signs of a slight shift, with the U.S. softening some export rules and China resuming rare earth shipments.
Nvidia is in its soft launch era with China again.