Nvidia Restarts Production of H20 Chips Despite Opposition

Nvidia contacted TSMC to restart production of a China-specific AI chip, H20. The strong demand prompts Nvidia to not rely solely on existing inventories.

The company ordered 300,000 H20 chips, with stocks of the chip at between 600,000 and 700,000. In 2024, Nvidia sold about a million H20 chips in mainland China.

In mid-July, the company said US authorities confirmed it would be given a license to resume sales of its H20 chip in China. But opposition to the reopening of sales drew sharp criticism from security experts and politicians in the US.

The US government noted the move to resume H20 sales, which from April required an export licence, was part of negotiations with China over rare earth minerals. Nvidia reconfigured its high-end offerings for China after the US imposed export controls on the H100 in October 2023.