Nvidia Forces China’s Tech Giants to Pay Upfront for AI Chips—Even If Beijing Blocks Them Later

Nvidia is demanding Chinese customers pay up front for $27k AI chips—even if Beijing later blocks their import.

Nvidia now requires full upfront payment for H200 GPU orders from Chinese customers, with no cancellation rights even if the government later bans imports. Chinese clients must pay 100% of the order value upfront, with limited exceptions allowing commercial insurance or asset collateral as alternatives.

Despite potential 2026 import approvals, H200 purchases remain restricted for military, government, and state-owned entities.

Over two million H200 units (priced at ~$27,000 each) have been ordered in China, far exceeding Nvidia’s current 700,000-unit inventory. TSMC must reallocate production capacity and use CoWoS-S packaging, delaying additional H200 shipments to China until Q2 2025 at earliest.

Reuters reported the terms, citing sources familiar with the matter. The delivery timelines reflect production bottlenecks at TSMC, which must prioritize existing commitments while scaling up for the new packaging technology.

"Pays us, whether or not you are allowed to get your H200."