Chinese authorities have initiated a surprise cybersecurity investigation into Nvidia's H20 AI chips, which are designed specifically for the local Chinese market. The probe, reported by Nikkei, cites potential security risks and demands that Nvidia prove the integrity of its chips and the company's intentions. Chinese officials justify the investigation as a measure to protect cyberspace and user data security amid ongoing tech tensions between the U.S. and China. Nvidia is actively working to reassure Chinese regulators about the safety of its H20 chips. This scrutiny comes as the White House recently reversed an April ban, allowing Nvidia to sell H20 processors and AMD to sell MI308 chips to Chinese customers. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly lobbied the U.S. administration by highlighting that these chips lag behind U.S. flagship GPUs and pledged $500 billion for domestic semiconductor fabrication. Meanwhile, China’s automakers are accelerating efforts to replace Nvidia chips, signaling a broader push for domestic alternatives amid the geopolitical and technological contest between the two countries.