Nvidia's Chief Executive Officer, Jensen Huang, has indicated that he does not anticipate a formal declaration from the Chinese government regarding the import of the company's advanced H200 artificial intelligence chips. Instead, he expects the evidence to come directly through purchase orders from Chinese customers.
No Press Releases, Just Purchase Orders
Speaking at a press conference during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Huang addressed the strong demand for the H200 chips in China. "My expectation is that we're not expecting any press releases or any large declarations," Huang stated. He clarified that the process would be straightforward: "It's just going to be purchase orders. If the purchase orders come, it's because they're able to place purchase orders."
This situation follows the move by former US President Donald Trump last year, who reversed a longstanding ban on shipping advanced AI chips to China. The decision allowed Nvidia to sell the H200, which preceded its current flagship "Blackwell" generation of processors.
US Government Working on License Approvals
Earlier on the same day, Nvidia's Chief Financial Officer, Colette Kress, provided an update during an interview with a JPMorgan analyst. She revealed that the US government is "working feverishly" on processing license applications for Nvidia to ship its H200 chips to China. However, the company still lacks clarity on when these crucial approvals will be granted. "We're going to wait and see what will happen," Kress remarked regarding the pending applications.
Despite the regulatory uncertainty, Huang confirmed that Nvidia is actively preparing its supply chain to meet the anticipated demand from Chinese firms. "The customer demand is high - quite high," he said. "We've fired up our supply chain, and H200s are flowing through the line."
Strong Demand and Future Roadmap
The company's confidence extends beyond the H200. On Monday, Nvidia showcased six new chips that are in full production, forming the foundation of its next-generation "Vera Rubin" AI computing systems. While Kress declined to specify any production bottlenecks, she expressed confidence, stating the company feels "very solid" about its supply chain's condition.
Nvidia has set an ambitious target, calling for $500 billion in sales from its current Blackwell chips and the upcoming Vera Rubin generation by the end of this year. Kress also noted that discussions about data center buildouts with customers for 2027 are already underway, although no specific sales guidance was provided.
Huang highlighted the broad-based demand for Nvidia's products and expressed optimism about the partnership with its primary manufacturing partner. "I'm fully expecting a really giant year for our business with TSMC," he said, referring to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
In other developments, Huang announced plans for a visit to Israel, where Nvidia employs 5,000 people and aims to double its workforce. While he did not comment on reported talks to acquire Israeli AI firm AI21 Labs, he left the door open for future deals. "We might invest in, partner with, and we might, of course, acquire some semiconductor companies," Huang said.
Responding to a question about a potential link between his relationship with former President Trump and a deal involving chip startup Groq, Huang stated he was unaware that a firm connected to Trump's son was an investor in Groq. "I didn't know that," Huang said. "I guess good for them, but I didn't know that at all."
