Orders for NVIDIA’s H20 server chips from Chinese tech companies reached $16 billion in the first quarter of 2025, Reuters reported, citing an article from The Information. The orders, which include those from ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent, come ahead of an anticipated potential U.S. ban.
The H20 is the most advanced artificial intelligence chip still available to China.
In February, Reuters reported an initial surge in H20 demand driven by opportunities associated with DeepSeek’s low-cost AI models. The growth in orders relaxes investors’ concern over claims that the Chinese AI company’s large language model would lead to lower chip demand and consumption.
The H20, part of NVIDIA’s H200 Tensor Core GPU product line, is specially created for the Chinese market. The semiconductor helps power generative AI and high-performance computing workloads, made possible by its 141 gigabytes of HBM3e memory at 4.8 terabytes per second. It is ideal for lower-power, air-cooled enterprise rack designs, accelerating deployment of AI systems.
The Chinese businesses’ orders come as President Donald Trump introduces stronger tariffs against imports, including semiconductors.