The US Commerce Department has begun granting licences to Nvidia to export its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China, easing a major obstacle to the company’s access to one of its key markets.

The move follows Washington’s reversal last month of an April ban on H20 sales. Nvidia designed the chip specifically for China to comply with earlier Biden-era export controls on advanced AI processors. The restrictions, however, had threatened to cut $8bn from the company’s July-quarter sales.

It is not yet clear how many licences have been issued, which Chinese companies can receive the shipments, or the value of the authorised exports.

Nvidia confirmed in May that the H20 generated $4.6bn in first-quarter sales, with China accounting for 12.5% of total revenue. CEO Jensen Huang has previously warned that without access to China, the company’s leadership position in AI hardware could erode as domestic firms such as Huawei court local developers.

Exports of Nvidia’s other advanced AI chips to China remain restricted. Successive US administrations have sought to limit China’s access to high-end semiconductors to slow its progress in AI and defence technologies.

Nvidia, which met with President Trump on Wednesday, has denied Chinese claims that the H20 contains “backdoors” enabling remote access or control. The company is still pursuing other sales licences after signalling in July it expected US approval to resume shipments soon.