Alibaba and ByteDance previously told NVIDIA they would like to acquire more than 200,000 H200 chips each, according to people familiar with the matter. The parties have not finalized quantities or delivery timing.
NVIDIA executives have said Chinese customers show strong demand for the H200. However, they have also said NVIDIA has not discussed approval directly with Beijing and does not know when China will approve sales.
NVIDIA Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang has said the AI chip market alone could generate $50 billion in the coming years. The Chinese market remains central to that growth outlook.
Chinese rivals have expanded during NVIDIA’s restricted access, including Huawei Technologies Co. and Cambricon Technologies Corp., which plan to increase manufacturing. Beijing has also advanced a self-sufficiency drive that includes incentives worth up to $70 billion for the semiconductor industry.
China’s recent approach has also tightened around other NVIDIA products. In mid-2025, Chinese authorities advised local businesses not to use NVIDIA’s H20 chips, an AI accelerator previously allowed for export to China. China’s cyberspace agency also instructed companies such as Alibaba to stop placing orders for NVIDIA’s RTX Pro 6000D workstation processor, which can support AI applications.
Markets tied the regulatory shift to NVIDIA stock move. Shares closed at $184.84 on January 22, 2026, up $1.66 or 0.91%, before extending gains in premarket trading to $187.55.
NVIDIA’s market capitalization stood at about $4.5 trillion. The stock carried a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 45.64 and a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15.
Supply constraints have also created premium pricing signals inside China. Black market servers containing eight H200 graphics processing units (GPUs) have sold for 2.3 million yuan, or about $330,403, reflecting a 50% premium.
NVIDIA stock price movement has also tightened sales terms for H200 chips, requiring upfront payments and adopting strict no-flexibility conditions as it navigates regulatory complexity between Washington and Beijing.