Nvidia Preparing Groq Chips for Chinese Market

Sources say the company is developing a version of its AI chips that can be sold in China.

Mar. 18, 2026 at 12:37am

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Nvidia is preparing a version of its Groq artificial-intelligence chips that can be sold to the Chinese market, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The move comes as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company has restarted production of its H200 chips after obtaining export licenses from the U.S. government and receiving purchase orders from Chinese customers.

Why it matters

Nvidia dominates the market for training AI systems, but faces more competition in the inference market, where several major Chinese firms already produce their own chips. Developing a version of the Groq chips for the Chinese market could help Nvidia expand its footprint in this key segment.

The details

Nvidia licensed technology from Groq, an AI chip startup, in a $17 billion deal last year. The company plans to use the Groq chips for inference, where AI systems answer questions, write code or carry out tasks for users. The new variant of the Groq chips being prepared for China can be adapted to work with other systems and is expected to be available in May.

  • Nvidia licensed technology from Groq in a $17 billion deal late last year.
  • Nvidia showed a new lineup of products based around the Groq chips at its annual developer conference in San Jose, California this week.
  • Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company has restarted production of its H200 chips after obtaining export licenses from the U.S. government.
  • The new variant of the Groq chips for the Chinese market is expected to be available in May.

The players

Nvidia

An American multinational technology company that designs graphics processing units (GPUs) for the gaming and professional markets, as well as system on a chip units (SoCs) for the mobile computing and automotive market.

Groq

An AI chip startup that Nvidia licensed technology from in a $17 billion deal last year.

Jensen Huang

The CEO of Nvidia.

Donald Trump

The former President of the United States, whose administration granted Nvidia export licenses for its H200 chips.

Baidu

A major Chinese AI company that already produces its own inference chips.

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What’s next

Nvidia is expected to release the new variant of the Groq chips for the Chinese market in May.

The takeaway

Nvidia's move to develop a version of its Groq AI chips for the Chinese market highlights the company's efforts to expand its footprint in the competitive inference chip segment, where several major Chinese firms have already established a presence.