On his visit to Beijing in July, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang received a rock-star welcome as he announced to Chinese state media that Washington had assured the company that export licences for its H20 chips would soon be granted.
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Warmly greeted by Chinese entrepreneurs and government officials, Huang – who wore a Tang suit and addressed the audience with his rusty Mandarin at the state-backed China International Supply Chain Expo – earned national fame overnight.
Just two weeks after Huang concluded his third visit to China this year, the company saw its fortunes take a dramatic turn.
On July 31, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said it had summoned Nvidia executives to question them about the security of its H20 chips. The powerful regulator said the inquiry was partly due to US lawmakers demanding the installation of tracking features into chips for export.
That led to a back-and-forth between Nvidia defending the integrity of its chips and intensified pressure from state media for the company to demonstrate its security credentials.
While Beijing has yet to provide evidence of any “back doors” in Nvidia’s products or issue any official ban, it has become politically sensitive for Chinese companies to procure any of the US firm’s products, according to local media and industry insiders.
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