Nov 21 (Reuters) - The Trump administration is

considering greenlighting sales of Nvidia's ( NVDA ) H200 artificial

intelligence chips to China, people familiar with the matter

said, as a bilateral detente boosts prospects for exports of

advanced U.S. technology to China.

The Commerce Department, which oversees U.S. export

controls, is reviewing a change to its policy of barring sales

of such chips to China, the sources said, stressing that plans

could change.

The White House and the Commerce Department did not immediately

respond to requests for comment. Nvidia ( NVDA ) did not comment directly

on the review but said current regulation does not allow the

company to offer a competitive AI data center chip in China,

leaving that massive market to its rapidly growing foreign

competitors.

The possibility signals a friendlier approach to China,

after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi

Jinping brokered a trade and tech war truce in Busan last month.

China hawks in Washington are concerned that shipments of

more advanced AI chips to China could help Beijing supercharge

its military, fears that prompted the Biden administration to

set limits on such exports.

Faced with Beijing's muscular use of export controls on rare

earth minerals, critical for producing a raft of tech goods,

Trump this year has threatened new restrictions on tech exports

to China, but ultimately rolled them back in most cases.

The H200 chip, unveiled two years ago, has more

high-bandwidth memory than its predecessor the H100, allowing it

to process data more quickly.

It is estimated to be twice as powerful as Nvidia's ( NVDA ) H20

chip, the most advanced AI semiconductor that can legally be

exported to China, after the Trump administration reversed its

short-lived ban on such sales earlier this year.

Earlier this week, Nvidia ( NVDA ) CEO Jensen Huang, whom Trump has

described as a "great guy," was among the guests at the White

House during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's

visit

.

The Commerce Department announced this week it had approved

shipments of the equivalent of up to 70,000 Nvidia Blackwell

chips, Nvidia's ( NVDA ) next-generation AI chip, to Saudi Arabia's

Humain and G42 of the United Arab Emirates.