Nvidia Plans Increased Production of H200 Chips Amid Surging Demand from China
Nvidia is exploring the possibility of scaling up production of its H200 chips in response to a notable surge in orders from Chinese companies, according to a report by Reuters sourced from anonymous insiders. This shift comes after the U.S. Department of Commerce authorized Nvidia to sell these advanced chips to China, a development that follows previous restrictions imposed by the Biden administration aimed at limiting the export of sophisticated AI technologies.
The H200 chips, part of Nvidia’s Hopper generation, are renowned for their capabilities in training expansive language models. Restrictions previously barred their sale in China, but the recent approval, contingent on Nvidia sharing 25% of revenue from these sales, has opened new avenues for the company.
Chinese officials are currently weighing the implications of allowing imports of the H200 chips, which are believed to offer significant enhancements over the existing H20 GPUs that Nvidia had previously tailored for the Chinese market.
By ramping up production, Nvidia aims to seize an opportunity in a market that is rapidly advancing its own AI capabilities. The competition, paired with national security factors in Western nations, has limited access to cutting-edge hardware in China, where local firms are prioritizing efficiency over scale.
Notable Chinese companies such as Alibaba and ByteDance, which are investing in their own AI developments, have already approached Nvidia with intentions for large-scale orders of the H200 chips, though availability remains constrained.
An Nvidia spokesperson affirmed the company’s commitment, stating, “We are managing our supply chain to ensure that licensed sales of the H200 to authorized customers in China will have no impact on our ability to supply customers in the United States.”
