Nvidia placed orders for 300,000 H20 chipsets with contract manufacturer TSMC last week, according to reports. With one of them adding that strong Chinese demand had led the U.S. firm to change its mind about just relying on its existing stockpile.
This month, the Trump administration permitted Nvidia to restart sales of H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) to China, overturning a ban enacted in April aimed at preventing advanced AI chips from reaching China due to national security issues.
Nvidia created the H20 exclusively for the Chinese market following the U.S. export limitations on its other AI chipsets enacted in late 2023. The H20 lacks the computing capabilities of Nvidia's H100 or its new Blackwell series available in markets beyond China.
The fresh orders with Taiwan's TMSC would increase the current stock of 600,000 to 700,000 H20 chips, as per reports.
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Nvidia sold approximately 1 million H20 chips in 2024, as reported by the U.S. research company SemiAnalysis for comparison.
During a visit to Beijing this month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang mentioned that the volume of H20 orders received would dictate if production would resume, noting that any supply chain restart would require nine months.
Nvidia must secure export licenses from the U.S. government to export the H20 chips. It stated in mid-July that authorities had assured it would receive them shortly.
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Nvidia chose not to provide comments regarding the new orders or the progress of its license applications. TSMC chose not to provide any comments. The U.S. Commerce Department did not promptly reply to a request for feedback.
Nvidia has requested that Chinese firms looking to buy Nvidia H20 chips provide updated paperwork, including anticipated order quantities from customers, according to reports.