Nvidia Orders 300K H20 Chips to Meet Surging Demand in China
Nvidia is making some serious moves in China again. According to a source, the company has just placed a huge order for 300,000 H20 chipsets with Taiwan’s TSMC. Why? It turns out the demand from Chinese tech firms has been stronger than expected so much so that Nvidia decided to go beyond its existing stockpile.
“The Trump administration this month allowed Nvidia to resume sales of H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) to China,”
lifting an earlier ban that had been in place since April. The ban was originally introduced to limit the export of high-end AI chips to China over national security concerns.
Now, here’s the interesting part: the H20 chip was created specifically for the Chinese market after those U.S. restrictions hit late last year. It’s not as powerful as Nvidia’s flagship H100 or the new Blackwell chips, but it’s still highly valuable for Chinese companies working with AI tools.
Demand Surge Could Restart Production
With this new order, Nvidia’s inventory of H20 chips could jump to around 900,000 to 1 million units, considering it already had around 600,000–700,000 in stock. For comparison, the company sold roughly a million H20 chips in 2024, according to research firm SemiAnalysis.
During a recent trip to Beijing, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said something telling:
“the level of H20 orders it received would determine whether production would begin again,”
and if it did, rebuilding the supply chain would take about nine months.
Initially, there were reports Nvidia wasn’t planning to restart wafer production anytime soon. But these new bulk orders might change that. For now, though, the company still needs U.S. export licenses to ship the chips.
“It said in mid-July it had been assured by authorities that it would get them soon.”
But, as of now, those licenses are still pending.
U.S.-China Tensions Still in Play
Behind the scenes, Nvidia has also asked its Chinese buyers to provide fresh documentation, including forecasted volumes from their clients. This isn’t just paperwork, it’s part of keeping the U.S. regulators on board.
Interestingly, the whole issue of H20 chip sales ties into something bigger: the U.S.-China trade war.
“The Trump administration said the resumption of H20 sales was part of negotiations with China over rare earth magnets,”
materials that are vital for many industries and that China has threatened to restrict.
Of course, not everyone in the U.S. is thrilled. Some lawmakers are worried that giving China even limited access to Nvidia’s AI chips could slow down America’s progress in the AI race. Still, Nvidia’s argument is clear: staying in the Chinese market is essential. If it exists, companies like Huawei could quickly take over, shifting developers away from Nvidia’s ecosystem altogether.
Before the initial ban, tech giants like Tencent, ByteDance, and Alibaba were already stocking up on H20 chips. They were rolling out their own AI models and also using DeepSeek’s low-cost alternatives.
Nvidia’s latest chip order shows it’s not stepping away from China just yet and the AI race between global powers is far from over.
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