Nvidia is reportedly asking Chinese customers to pay upfront for the H200 AI chips

Nvidia is now asking its customers in China to pay in full upfront for its H200 AI chips, even as approval from the US and from Beijing remains uncertain. Reuters reportedciting anonymous sources.

The chipmaker leaves no room for refunds or changes to orders, the report said.

While some customers may be allowed to use trade insurance or asset guarantees, the terms are much stricter than Nvidia’s previous policies, which sometimes allowed partial deposits, Reuters reported.

Nvidia declined to comment.

China is expected to allow Nvidia to sell H200 chipsets in the country. Per BloombergAlthough Beijing wants to prevent the chips from being used by its military, state-owned enterprises and sensitive infrastructure concerns.

Despite the challenges, demand for the Nvidia H200 remains strong, as do Chinese companies It is said It ordered more than 2 million GPUs in 2026, prompting the chipmaker to ramp up production.

Nvidia is trying to strike a delicate balance between meeting strong demand for its chips and managing political risks in both the United States and China. American chip maker He suffered costly setbacks When the Trump administration said it would need a license to export H20 chips to China, it forced the company to write down $5.5 billion worth of inventory.