DeepSeek’s Popularity Drives Surge in Demand for Nvidia H20 Accelerators in China

Following the success of Chinese startup DeepSeek, which showcased the ability to develop efficient language models with limited access to computing resources, demand for Nvidia H20 accelerators has surged across China.

According to Reuters, major Chinese tech giants—including Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance—have significantly increased their purchases of H20 GPUs. With U.S. sanctions restricting shipments of Nvidia’s most advanced chips to China, the H20 remains the most powerful available option. The spike in demand is driven not only by DeepSeek’s rapid AI adoption but also by concerns that H20 shipments could be banned in the future.

Beyond internal use, Chinese tech firms are also providing computing power to third-party developers. Meanwhile, server manufacturers report rising demand for H20-powered systems from sectors like education and healthcare, expanding beyond traditional buyers in telecom and finance.

Analysts estimate that around 1 million Nvidia H20 accelerators were shipped to China in 2024, generating over $12 billion in revenue. DeepSeek’s breakthroughs have attracted not just tech firms but also automakers, including Great Wall Motor, which plans to integrate AI into its vehicles.