Nvidia seeks full prepayment for H200s as China weighs limited approvals: reports
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The news: Nvidia is demanding full upfront payment from Chinese customers for its H200 artificial intelligence chips as it navigates uncertainty over whether Beijing will approve the shipments, Reuters reported.
Citing two people briefed on the matter, the news agency said the unusually strict terms mean orders cannot be cancelled, refunded or changed once placed. Though in special circumstances customers may use commercial insurance or asset collateral instead of cash, the sources said.
The context: According to the news agency, Chinese technology companies have ordered more than 2 million H200 chips priced at around USD27,000 each, exceeding Nvidia’s inventory of about 700,000 units.
But Beijing has in recent days reportedly asked some companies to temporarily pause H200 orders while regulators decide how many domestically produced chips must be bought alongside each imported chip. The Information first reported the pause.
Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources, that China plans to approve some H200 imports as soon as this quarter for select commercial use, while barring the military, sensitive government agencies, critical infrastructure and state-owned enterprises.
Alibaba and ByteDance have each told Nvidia they are interested in ordering more than 200,000 units, Bloomberg reported.
The numbers: Nvidia last year wrote down USD5.5 billion in inventory after the Trump administration banned it from selling chips to China.
On Thursday New York time, Nvidia shares fell as much as 2.7% following the reports.
The sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, The Information
