Nvidia says no upfront payment needed for its H200 chips

BEIJING: Nvidia does not require upfront payment for H200 chips, a spokesperson for the US chipmaker said in a statement to Reuters on Tuesday.

The company said it “would never require customers to pay for products they do not receive”, in a response to a Reuters story on January 8 about the company having imposed unusually stringent terms requiring full upfront payment from Chinese customers seeking its artificial intelligence chips.

One source told Reuters that Nvidia’s standard terms for Chinese clients have previously included advance payment requirements, but they were sometimes allowed to place a deposit rather than make a full payment upfront.

But for the H200, the company has been particularly strict in enforcing conditions given the lack of clarity on whether Chinese regulators would greenlight the shipments, the person added.

Such a payment structure for the H200 would effectively transfer financial risk from Nvidia to its customers, who must commit capital without certainty that Beijing will approve the chip imports or that they will be able to deploy the technology as planned.