* Chinese authorities approve H200 AI chip sales, source

says

* Nvidia ( NVDA ) restarting manufacturing of H200 chips, CEO says

* Nvidia ( NVDA ) preparing Groq chips for sale in China, sources

say

(Recasts to add Nvidia's ( NVDA ) plan for Groq AI chip)

By Karen Freifeld, Max A. Cherney and Liam Mo

NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) - Nvidia ( NVDA ) has won

Beijing's approval to sell its second-most powerful artificial

intelligence chips to China and is also preparing a version of

the Groq AI chip that can be sold to the Chinese market, sources

familiar with the matter said.

The long-awaited regulatory approval paves the way for the

U.S. chipmaker to resume sales of the H200 chips, which have

emerged as a major flashpoint in U.S.-China relations, in a

market that once generated 13% of Nvidia's ( NVDA ) total revenue.

Despite strong demand from Chinese firms and U.S. approval

for exports, Beijing's hesitation to allow imports has been the

main barrier to shipments of the H200 chips to China.

Earlier on Tuesday, Nvidia ( NVDA ) CEO Jensen Huang said that it had

been licensed for "many customers in China" for the H200 and had

received purchase orders from "many" companies, allowing it to

resume production of the chip.

"Our supply chain is getting fired up," Huang said at a

press conference.

The company had halted production last year of the chip

because of increasing regulatory hurdles in the U.S. and China,

according to a report at the time.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) had been waiting for licenses from both the U.S. and

China for months. It has received some U.S. approvals, and a

source familiar with the matter said the company had now also

received licenses for many customers in China from Beijing.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said

they were "not aware of the specifics," and directed questions

to "the competent authorities."

CNBC also reported on Tuesday that Huang told them the

company now has clearance from both the U.S. and China.

A Chinese company source said that they did not know if the

Chinese government had given final approval, but that Nvidia ( NVDA ) had

told them that they could now place purchase orders.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

late last month, Nvidia ( NVDA ) said that the U.S. had granted a license

in February that would allow "small amounts of H200 products to

specific China-based customers."

In January, Reuters reported that China granted preliminary

approval to three of its largest tech companies - ByteDance,

Tencent ( TCTZF ) and Alibaba ( BABA ) - along with AI startup

DeepSeek to import the chips, although the regulatory conditions

for China's approvals were still being finalized.

The Chinese companies did not immediately respond to emailed

requests for comment.

NVIDIA READIES GROQ CHIP FOR CHINA

Nvidia ( NVDA ) is also preparing a version of the Groq AI chip that

can be sold to the Chinese market, Reuters reported earlier on

Tuesday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

It plans to tap Groq chips for what is known as inference,

where AI systems answer questions, write code or carry out tasks

for users. In the products Nvidia ( NVDA ) showed this week, the company

plans to use its forthcoming Vera Rubin chips, which cannot be

sold in China, in combination with the Groq chips.

While Nvidia ( NVDA ) dominates the market for training AI systems,

it faces much more competition in the inference market. Several

major Chinese firms, including AI heavyweights such as Baidu ( BIDU )

, already produce their own inference chips.

The chips being readied for China are not downgraded

versions or made specifically for the Chinese market, one of the

sources told Reuters. But the new variant can be adapted to work

with other systems, the source said, adding that the Groq chip

is expected to be available in May.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.