As Nvidia says it will resume sales of a less powerful AI semiconductor model to China, here is a run-down of the microchip conflict: August 2022: Biden's Chips Act Joe Biden, then US president, signs a bill to boost domestic chipmaking,

Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said the US’s reversal of restrictions on sales of chips to China followed recent trade negotiations with Beijing over rare earths. President Donald Trump curbed exports of Nvidia’s H2O artificial intelligence chips to China in April as part of an escalation of his trade war with Beijing.

China faces significant challenges advancing its semiconductor lithography, a key hurdle for its drive toward technological self-sufficiency and superiority in the trade war with the US.

Nvidia has applied to sell the H20 GPU again, and the US government has ‘assured Nvidia that licences will be granted’.

The United States has been tightening its policy of exporting semiconductors to China in recent years. The aim of this strategy is to curb the technological and military advancements of the country. These decisions have influenced global markets, supply chains and innovation trajectories around the world.

U.S. stocks are drifting mostly higher following some mixed data on inflation and profits at some of the biggest U.S. banks.

Siemens, Synopsys and Cadence – three of the world’s largest EDA software developers – are set to resume sales to China.

The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in midday trading and just a bit below its all-time high, even as more than four out of every five stocks within the index fell.