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, although approval from the US and from Beijing remains uncertain, Reuters reported, citing 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 chips in the country, according to Bloomberg, although Beijing wants to prevent the chips from being used by its military, state-owned companies and sensitive infrastructure concerns.

Despite the challenges, demand for the Nvidia H200 remains strong, and Chinese companies have reportedly placed orders for 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. The US chipmaker suffered costly setbacks when the Trump administration said it would need a license to export H20 chips to China, forcing the company to write down $5.5 billion worth of inventory.