China allows DeepSeek to buy Nvidia's H200 AI chips

China has allowed its famous artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek to buy Nvidia's H200 AI chips, which were long barred from entering the country owing to the fresh friction in the US-China relationship.

Although regulatory conditions are still being finalised, according to Reuters, the move indicates mending bilateral ties between the archrival nations.

The development comes at a time when AI chips, particularly those of Nvidia, stand at the forefront of technological advancements.

Earlier, it was reported that major Chinese companies, including ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent, were granted permission to acquire over 400,000 H200 chips in total.

What makes a slight contrast is that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in Taipei that his company had not been informed of these approvals, while he was hopeful that China was finalising the licensing process.

Citing sources, the publication also noted that China's industry and commerce ministries approved Nvidia chip buying by all four companies, but on conditions that are currently under consideration by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

It must be mentioned that DeepSeek is purportedly China's incredible AI firm that grabbed headlines last year by launching AI models trained at a fraction of those developed by US-based competitors like OpenAI.

For those unaware, the H200 chip is Nvidia's second most powerful model and has become the headlining aspect of US-China relations, with the U.S. recently clearing the way for Nvidia to sell these chips to China. Final shipping approvals have yet to be finalised by Chinese authorities.