EXPLORINEER
en

Archive — CN — technode

NVIDIA places new order with TSMC for 300,000 H20 chips as China demand surges:report

NVIDIA has placed a new order for 300,000 H20 AI chips with TSMC to respond to rising demand in China. This follows the resumption of U.S. export approvals after a three-month ban, making the H20, which is popular among Chinese tech firms, the only legal AI chip available there despite its lower performance compared to the H100.

Key points

  • NVIDIA ordered 300,000 H20 AI chips from TSMC to meet increasing demand in China.
  • The order adds to an existing inventory of 600,000 to 700,000 H20 chips.
  • The U.S. resumed granting export licenses for the H20 chip to China after a three-month ban.
  • The H20 chip is the only NVIDIA AI chip legally available in China, making it sought after by companies like Tencent and ByteDance.
  • Despite having 20% of the computing power of the H100 chip, the H20 supports large-scale AI model inference.

Why it matters

  • The rise in demand for AI chips in China is indicative of the country's increasing investment in AI technologies.
  • The H20 chip's availability aligns with 2025 IT trends focusing on AI capabilities in major tech sectors.
  • The U.S.-China tech rivalry continues to shape the semiconductor industry, influencing both supply chains and market access.

NVIDIA's new order for H20 chips reflects the growing demand for AI technology in China and highlights the impact of U.S. export policies on the semiconductor market amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.