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US Allows Nvidia to Send Advanced AI Chips to China with Restrictions

An Nvidia logo and a computer motherboard appear in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. (Reuters)
An Nvidia logo and a computer motherboard appear in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Allows Nvidia to Send Advanced AI Chips to China with Restrictions

An Nvidia logo and a computer motherboard appear in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. (Reuters)
An Nvidia logo and a computer motherboard appear in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. (Reuters)

The US Commerce Department on Tuesday opened the door for Nvidia to sell advanced artificial intelligence chips in China with restrictions, following through on a policy shift announced last month by President Donald Trump.

The change would permit Nvidia to sell its powerful H200 chip to Chinese buyers if certain conditions are met -- including proof of "sufficient" US supply -- while sales of its most advanced processors would still be blocked.

However, uncertainty has grown over how much demand there will be from Chinese companies, as Beijing has reportedly been encouraging tech companies to use homegrown chips.

Chinese officials have informed some firms they would only approve buying H200 chips under special circumstances, such as development labs or university research, news website The Information reported Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

The Information had previously reported that Chinese officials were calling on companies there to pause H200 purchases while they deliberated requiring them to buy a certain ratio of AI chips made by Nvidia rivals in China.

In its official update on Tuesday, the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security said it had changed the licensing review policy for H200 and similar chips from a presumption of denial to handling applications case-by-case.

Trump announced in December an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to allow Nvidia to export its H200 chips to China, with the US government getting a 25-percent cut of sales.

The move marked a significant shift in US export policy for advanced AI chips, which Joe Biden's administration had heavily restricted over national security concerns about Chinese military applications.

Democrats in Congress have criticized the move as a huge mistake that will help China's military and economy.

- Chinese chips -

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has advocated for the company to be allowed to sell some of its more advanced chips in China, arguing the importance of AI systems around the world being built on US technology.

The chips -- graphic processing units or GPUs -- are used to train the AI models that are the bedrock of the generative AI revolution launched with the release of ChatGPT in 2022.

The GPU sector is dominated by Nvidia, now the world's most valuable company thanks to frenzied global demand and optimism for AI.

H200s are roughly 18 months behind the US company's most state-of-the-art offerings, which will still be off-limits to China.

Nvidia's Huang has repeatedly warned that China is just "nanoseconds behind" the United States as it accelerates the development of domestically produced advanced chips.

On Wednesday, leading Chinese AI startup Zhipu said it had used homegrown Huawei chips to train its new image generator.

Zhipu AI described its tool as "the first state-of-the-art multimodal model to complete the entire training process on a domestically produced chip".

The startup went public in Hong Kong last week and its shares have since soared 75 percent -- one of several dazzling recent initial public offerings by Chinese chip and generative AI companies, as high hopes for the sector outweigh concerns of a potential market crash.

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Technology

Hotels Strive to Be Found as AI Models Conduct Travel Search

The rise of AI to plan and book travel will force hotels to make themselves visible when people describe what type of room they would like. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File
The rise of AI to plan and book travel will force hotels to make themselves visible when people describe what type of room they would like. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File
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Hotels Strive to Be Found as AI Models Conduct Travel Search

The rise of AI to plan and book travel will force hotels to make themselves visible when people describe what type of room they would like. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File
The rise of AI to plan and book travel will force hotels to make themselves visible when people describe what type of room they would like. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File

With people increasingly adopting AI to help plan their vacations, hotels are working to make sure that you check them out -- and check in.

Whether using ChatGPT or AI-enabled travel sites like Layla.ai, it is already possible to pose search questions like: "Calm hotel with west-facing balcony" or "Charming hotel with spa that accepts dogs".

This simple switch to plain speech searches belies major technical changes that mean hotels have to learn to become visible to AI models, AFP said.

"We're in complete upheaval: last year 35 percent of French people used artificial intelligence to find a hotel, a cafe or a restaurant," said Nicolas Marette, founder of Cust place, a French company that helps firms optimize their digital presence.

According to a recent study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), around 37 percent of travelers are already using AI-enabled online travel sites to plan and book trips.

Hospitality industry players have taken notice.

A quarter of hospitality firms "have an AI strategy that is starting to produce real returns across multiple organizational activities", according to the BCG report.

"What a hotel needs to do to get well referenced by search engines is not the same thing that they need to do to get referenced by artificial intelligence," said Johanna Benesty at BCG.

Moreover, not all AI models "work in the same way," she added.

- Plain speech, elaborate task -

At French hospitality group Accor, which owns dozens of chains including Pullman, Sofitel, Mercure and Ibis, "we've been trying for a year already to understand how to make ourselves more relevant... and be more visible," the group's AI and data science chief Nicolas Maynard told a recent industry conference.

But that can be a challenge as AI users see fewer options, meaning securing a top ranking becomes even more critical.

"It's a big change: with Google a search gives you 50 results... while if you ask ChatGPT it will give you five" and that is it, Maynard added.

The switch to plain speech means big changes for hotels.

"The biggest challenge is to understand vague requests like 'I want a romantic hotel in the south'," Maynard said.

Because Accor's systems do not currently classify properties by such attributes, the group has its work cut out.

"We need to adapt our systems to take semantics into account," Maynard said.

- Hyper detailed -

But beyond semantics, AI will allow hotels to provide customers with a wealth of information.

Best Western France's director Olivier Cohn said he believed "what will make the difference is our ability to answer client questions more thoroughly".

Hotels could respond to even the most detailed client questions such as "knowing if there is a power socket on the left side of the bed because they are used to sleeping on that side of the bed and charging their devices", he said.

While such questions are simple in and of themselves, current systems and staff can struggle to answer in such detail, said Cohn, whose chain counts more than 4,000 hotels throughout the world.

Some hotels are already deploying AI chatbots to help answer simple guest questions, allowing staff to provide higher-value services.

But winning the referencing game isn't only up to the hotels themselves.

BCG notes that "algorithms elevate properties with comprehensive, high-trust, multisource information over those with sparse or inconsistent digital footprints", meaning that client descriptions and reviews will also be important.

But just like online travel agencies (OTA) charge commissions and offer premium service for a price, AI models are already beginning to do the same.

"The familiar OTA commission model will evolve into AI-era distribution fees, charged for prominence and relevance in algorithmic recommendations," the BCG report said.

Technology

Google, Meta, TikTok Hit by EU Consumer Complaints about Handling of Financial Scams

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta is seen during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta is seen during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
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Google, Meta, TikTok Hit by EU Consumer Complaints about Handling of Financial Scams

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta is seen during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta is seen during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

Alphabet's Google, Meta Platforms and TikTok were hit with complaints from European Union consumer groups on Thursday for allegedly failing to protect users from financial scams on their platforms, putting them at risk of regulatory fines.

The move highlights growing pressure worldwide on Big Tech to do more to address the negative impacts of social media, particularly for children and vulnerable users.

The complaints, filed by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and 29 of its members in 27 European countries, were submitted to the European Commission and national regulators under the Digital Services Act, which requires large online platforms to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content, Reuters reported.

"Meta, TikTok and Google not only fail to proactively remove fraudulent ads but also do little when being notified about such scams," BEUC Director General Agustin Reyna said in a statement.

"If they fail to address the financial scams circulating on their platforms, fraudsters will continue to reach millions of European consumers daily, leaving people at risk of losing hundreds to thousands of euros to fraud," he said. Google and Meta rejected the complaints and said they work proactively to protect their users.

A Google spokesperson said: "We strictly enforce our ad policies, blocking over 99% of violating ads before they ever run. Our teams constantly update these defences to stay ahead of scammers and protect people."

Meta said it found and removed over 159 million scam ads last year, 92% before anyone reported them. "We invest in advanced AI, tools, and partnerships to stop them," a spokesperson said.

TikTok said it takes action against violations, adding that scams are an industry-wide challenge while bad actors constantly adapt their tactics.

The consumer groups, meanwhile, said they reported nearly 900 ads suspected of breaching EU laws between December last year and March this year but the platforms only took down 27% of the ads and 52% of the reports were rejected or ignored.

The groups urged regulators to investigate whether the companies were complying with the rules and to impose fines for breaches.

DSA fines can reach as much as 6% of a company's global annual turnover.

Technology

SDAIA Outlines Comprehensive Data Quality Journey to Support National AI Initiatives

The Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA)
The Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA)
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SDAIA Outlines Comprehensive Data Quality Journey to Support National AI Initiatives

The Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA)
The Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA)

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) highlighted data quality as a critical foundation for enhancing information reliability, boosting performance, and enabling accurate business decisions, as part of its efforts during the Year of Artificial Intelligence 2026 to raise awareness about data importance.

The authority noted that high data quality serves as the cornerstone for sustainable national trust, integrated digital services, operational savings, entrepreneurship, and readiness for artificial intelligence applications, SPA reported.

SDAIA stated that the data quality journey spans five phases, beginning with a creation phase, where data is entered according to standardized criteria.

This is followed by a storage and organization phase to structure data and eliminate duplication, and an integration and sharing phase, which assesses quality before data is reused.

The journey continues through an analysis and use phase, where report accuracy is tied directly to source quality, and culminates in a continuous improvement phase, which utilizes analysis and user feedback to constantly refine data sets.

SDAIA called on organizations to adopt comprehensive data quality practices and strictly adhere to national regulations and standards. This includes integrated data quality planning, prioritizing initial assessments, developing data rules, and establishing clear performance indicators to measure improvement.

The authority also emphasized the importance of conducting periodic reviews and enabling users to report quality problems, which will ultimately maximize the efficiency of digital services and AI applications across the Kingdom.