• News

NVIDIA to pay $5.5 billion in charges due to US-China chip sale restrictions

The US government has implemented new restrictions on NVIDIA's H20 artificial intelligence chip sales to China.

Sam Chandler

April 15, 2025 5:10 PM

NVIDIA

1

NVIDIA could be slapped with $5.5 billion in charges thanks to new restrictions on the sale of artificial intelligence chips to China. Previously, NVIDIA has been able to sell powerful, AI chips to China by designing them right up to the restriction limitations. The restriction changes would mean that NVIDIA would need a licence to export its H20 chip to China.

According to a report by Reuters, NVIDIA has stated it could take on $5.5 billion in charges thanks to a new set of restrictions on chip sales implemented by the US government. These new restrictions would require licences for exports of NVIDIA’s H20 artificial intelligence chips to China.

Stephen Nellis of Reuters notes that the H20 is not the fastest chip at training AI models however it is the most advanced one currently for sale in China. Companies such as Tencent and ByteDance have been purchasing the product, presumably to train artificial intelligence models.

However, the US government has plans to restrict the sale of said H20 chips in China due to fears that the country could use the product to build a supercomputer. Previously, the US government had similar restrictions in place and NVIDIA designed chips right up to the line. But now the line seems to be moving.

These chip restrictions come as the race for more advanced artificial intelligence continues. Many US-based companies are already at the forefront of this new frontier, with the likes of OpenAI and Google vying for dominance in the field. However, the introduction of China-based DeepSeek spooked the market, with NVIDIA stock dropping 17 percent when the news broke.

The new chip restrictions will seemingly cost NVIDIA $5.5 billion, though it could very well create another H20-like chip that comes right up to the line but doesn’t cross it. This would likely avoid the need to purchase specific licences for the export of the AI chips to China.

Sam Chandler

Head of Guides

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as Head of Guides. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler