Nvidia clarifies ‘no upfront payment needed for H200 chips production’

In a recent update Nvidia’s spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, that the company does not require upfront payment for its H200 chip production, addressing concerns about its sales terms in China.

The company responded after Reuters previously mentioned on January 8, 2026, that the biggest U.S. chipmaking company has halted chip production and asked tech companies for full upfront payment to combat high demand of chips and maintain a smooth supply chain.

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

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 spokesperson added.

A source told Reuters that while Nvidia’s Chinese clients have sometimes been required to pay deposits or advance payments, the company has been stricter about payment terms for the H200 chips due to uncertainty around Chinese regulatory approval for shipments.

H200 is a China-focused AI accelerator variant designed to comply with export rules.

The firm believes such 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.

China’s share of data center revenue remains opaque, which makes it hard to gauge any hit from alleged stricter terms for H200 (Nvidia’s latest data center AI processor) tied to import approval risk per a Reuters source, which Nvidia disputes by denying full upfront payment.