Approval from China for Nvidia’s H200 AI chips will not come with a formal announcement or regulatory statement. Instead, it will show up quietly—in the form of purchase orders.
That was the message from Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, speaking at a press conference during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas. Huang said he does not expect any public declaration from Chinese authorities confirming that domestic firms are allowed to import Nvidia’s H200 chips.
“My expectation is that we’re not expecting any press releases or any large declarations,” Huang said. “It’s just going to be purchase orders. If the purchase orders come, it’s because they’re able to place purchase orders.”
Strong Demand From Chinese Customers
Huang’s comments come amid renewed momentum for Nvidia’s business in China after U.S. President Donald Trump last year reversed a longstanding ban on shipping advanced AI chips to the country. Under the revised policy, Nvidia is permitted to sell the H200—a chip positioned below its current flagship Blackwell platform but still powerful enough for large-scale AI workloads.
According to Huang, demand from Chinese customers is already strong. Nvidia has begun ramping up production to meet that interest, even as final licensing decisions remain pending.
“The customer demand is high—quite high,” Huang said. “We’ve fired up our supply chain, and H200s are flowing through the line.”
Licensing Still in Progress
Despite the upbeat tone, the regulatory process is not yet complete. Earlier on Tuesday, Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress said the U.S. government is still reviewing license applications required for shipping H200 chips to China.
In an interview with a JPMorgan analyst, Kress described the situation as fluid, noting that authorities are “working feverishly” on the applications. However, she acknowledged that Nvidia does not yet have clarity on when approvals will be finalized.
“We’re going to wait and see what will happen,” Kress said.
Supply Chain Confidence and New Chip Generations
The H200 discussion comes as Nvidia pushes ahead with an aggressive product roadmap. Earlier this week, the company unveiled six new chips that will form the next-generation Vera Rubin platform, which follows the current Blackwell architecture.
Kress declined to comment on specific production bottlenecks but expressed confidence in Nvidia’s manufacturing pipeline. “We feel very solid” about the state of the supply chain, she said.
Nvidia has set an ambitious target of $500 billion in combined sales from Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems by the end of the decade. Kress noted that discussions with customers about data center buildouts are already extending into 2027, underscoring the long planning cycles now associated with AI infrastructure.
Partnership With TSMC Underpins Growth
Huang emphasized that the companies outlook remains strong across all regions, not just China. He highlighted the company’s deep partnership with TSMC, which fabricates the majority of its advanced chips.
“I’m fully expecting a really giant year for our business with TSMC,” Huang said, pointing to continued capacity expansion and process advancements at the foundry.
The relationship is critical as Nvidia balances surging global demand for AI accelerators with geopolitical uncertainty and export controls that vary by market.
Global Expansion and M&A Signals
Beyond chips, Huang also signaled Nvidia’s openness to further global expansion and dealmaking. He confirmed plans to visit Israel, where Nvidia employs around 5,000 people and is exploring ways to double its local workforce.
Local media recently reported that Nvidia is in talks to acquire AI21 Labs, though Huang declined to comment on that specific report. More broadly, he said Nvidia remains open to investing in, partnering with, or acquiring semiconductor and AI-related companies.
“We might invest in, partner with, and we might, of course, acquire some semiconductor companies,” Huang said.
Quiet Signals, Big Implications
Taken together, Huang’s remarks underscore how AI geopolitics is increasingly playing out through quiet commercial signals rather than headline policy shifts. For Nvidia, the appearance—or absence—of purchase orders from China will be the clearest indicator of how regulatory winds are blowing.
For the broader AI industry, the episode highlights a new reality: in a world of export controls and strategic technologies, approval may no longer be announced—it may simply be delivered, one order at a time.
