July 14 (Reuters) - A unit of telecoms gear maker ZTE Corp and two other Chinese firms are among the latest entities to receive U.S. approval to purchase advanced AI chips from Nvidia and AMD, according to documents and two sources familiar with the matter.
Nvidia's H200 chip, one of its most powerful and used to train and run large AI models, has become a focal point of U.S.-China tech rivalry as Washington seeks to restrict China's access to advanced computing power.
ZTE Kangxun Telecom and server maker Maginfra have been permitted to purchase Nvidia's H200 chips, while Zhuhai Hengqin Yunxiang Zhisheng Network Technology, a subsidiary of cloud computing company Kingsoft, has been cleared to use some AMD chips that rival the H200, according to the documents and the sources.
The three firms, not previously reported to have received U.S. clearance, expand the known set of companies involved in the licensing process beyond China's largest internet groups and major electronics distributors.
Reuters reported in May that the U.S. had cleared around 10 Chinese firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance and JD.com, to buy the Nvidia chips, but that no deliveries had been made at that time as the deals remained caught between approval requirements and scrutiny in both Washington and Beijing.
However, some Chinese cloud firms have recently told partners and clients they may soon be able to obtain H200 chips, the sources said, indicating some progress in import reviews by Chinese authorities.
ZTE, Maginfra, Kingsoft, Nvidia, AMD and China's Ministry of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security - the Commerce Department agency overseeing export controls - did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Washington has steadily tightened restrictions on sending advanced AI chips to China since 2022, arguing the technology could support the PRC's military modernisation.
But the Trump administration has allowed sales of the H200, which first shipped to clients globally in 2024, with some arguing the exports promote U.S. technological dominance, while Nvidia has pushed to preserve access to one of the world's largest technology markets.
China, meanwhile, has encouraged domestic alternatives, creating uncertainty over whether U.S.-approved chip sales can proceed even after Washington grants export licenses.
(Reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)