[News] H20 AI Chip Ban Reportedly Holds as China-U.S. Talks Heat Up — What’s Next for Both Sides?

With the US and China kicking off a new round of talks in London to ease trade tensions, key issues like rare earth exports and Beijing’s access to US chips have been brought up on the table. However, according to CNN and Wccftech, citing CNBC, there is no chance the U.S. will lift the ban on NVIDIA’s H20 AI GPU sales to China.

The reports, citing National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, note that Trump might ease some microchip restrictions important to China’s manufacturing but will keep a tight grip on “very, very high-end” NVIDIA AI chips. As NVIDIA warned in May, the H20 chip ban already cost Team Green $5.5 billion in Q1 inventory and orders—and Reuters says the total hit could reach $15 billion.

NVIDIA’s Next Move

With no more room to tweak Hopper and probably no turnaround for H20, TrendForce suggests that NVIDIA is expected to release a special low-power, downscaled version of the RTX PRO 6000 (formerly B40) for the Chinese market. This model will reportedly switch from the originally planned HBM memory to GDDR7, with a potential market debut as early as the second half of 2025.

According to TrendForce, NVIDIA remains heavily reliant on Samsung-manufactured GDDR7.

Key Negotiation Chips for China and the U.S.

While Hassett warned that China’s hold on 90% of rare earths and magnets could disrupt U.S. industries if shipments stall, experts say Beijing is unlikely to give up that leverage—and may use it to pressure Washington to ease curbs on advanced chips, CNN reports.

However, China’s stance has indeed softened slightly, as some Chinese suppliers to U.S. firms, including GM, Ford, and Stellantis, have been granted six-month export licenses, according to Reuters.

As noted by CNN, rare earths are 17 elements more common than gold and found in many countries, including the U.S. However, as they’re costly and dirty to process, China controls the majority of that supply. In April, China tightened control over rare earth exports, requiring case-by-case approvals and end-use checks.

From the U.S. side, in late May, the top three EDA giants—Synopsys, Cadence, and Siemens—were reportedly told to halt software sales to China without a license amid the latest U.S. chip restrictions.

Nevertheless, a recent report from EE Times China suggests top U.S. EDA firms told clients that while EDA tools are still banned in China, IP modules like interfaces and processors—and hardware like prototype platforms—can now be sold. Core design tools like simulation and layout software remain blocked. Could this be the U.S.’s latest bargaining chip? Time will tell.

Read more

• [News] China Controls 70% of Global Rare Earth Output—Meet the Top 10 Suppliers Behind It
• [News] U.S. Reportedly to Allow AI Chip Exports to Allies If Run by Approved U.S. Operators Soon

(Photo credit: the White House)