<span>Story: Nvidia is reportedly asking for full upfront payment from Chinese customers seeking its H200 AI chips.</span><span>Two sources told Reuters this was due to ongoing uncertainty over Beijing’s approval of the shipment.</span><span>They said the U.S. chipmaker imposed unusually strict terms.</span><span>Full payment of the order is included, and no cancellations, refunds, or configuration changes are allowed after the order is placed.</span><span>Nvidia and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology did not respond to requests for comment.</span><span>Last month, Reuters reported that Chinese technology companies had ordered more than 2 million H200 chips, priced at about $27,000 each.</span><span>That’s more than Nvidia’s inventory of 700,000 chips.</span><span>Although the Chinese chipmaker has developed an AI processor, its performance still lags behind Nvidia’s H200 in training advanced AI models at scale.</span><span>Bloomberg reported on Thursday that China plans to approve some H200 imports as soon as this quarter.</span><span>Reports say Chinese officials are preparing to allow purchases for certain commercial uses.</span><span>However, due to security concerns, procurement by the military, sensitive government agencies, critical infrastructure and state-owned enterprises will still be prohibited.</span>
