Nvidia's China Chip Reboot
Nvidia Opens Orders for Vera AI CPUs in China Amid Stalled H200 Sales
Key Points
Nvidia says Vera is built for agentic-AI workloads and can run “up to 1.8 times faster” than comparable server CPUs from rivals, a performance claim Chinese customers are weighing as they consider whether to switch ecosystems.
Nvidia is reportedly targeting substantial financial impact from the China-focused rollout, with one report stating the company anticipates generating about “$20 billion in revenue” from Vera chip sales by the end of its fiscal year in January.
Separately, reporting details that Huang participated in the current U.S. president’s China delegation last month, but the visit “did not result in a definitive approval for H200 sales or a formal agreement between Washington and Beijing.”
Nvidia told customers that Vera is already in production and described it as the successor to its Blackwell processors, underscoring that the company is not only marketing a new chip but also positioning it for near-term supply in China.
Nvidia has opened orders for its new Vera AI CPU in China, with delivery expected as early as August 2026, according to Reuters. The move is a direct response to the collapse of Nvidia's China business, where CEO Jensen Huang has said the company's market share has "effectively fallen to zero" after U.S. export restrictions blocked sales of its most powerful GPU chips.
At least one major Chinese cloud provider is already preparing an order for more than 300 servers — each equipped with two Vera CPUs — for testing purposes, Reuters reported. Nvidia says Vera is already in production and positions it as the successor to its Blackwell processors, built specifically for the next wave of AI workloads.
Why Nvidia Is Betting Everything on Vera in China
Nvidia's China revenue peaked at roughly $25 billion — about 32% of total sales — in 2024, according to TradingView. Then the U.S. government banned the A100, H100, and eventually the H20 chips from China. Nvidia tried to sell stripped-down versions, but those were blocked too. The result: China revenue dropped to effectively zero.
Vera is Nvidia's attempt at a workaround. Unlike GPUs, which face strict export caps tied to raw computing power, CPUs are generally treated as "general purpose" chips with fewer restrictions, WCCFTech noted. Nvidia is betting regulators won't block a CPU the same way they blocked its GPU line. That bet is not guaranteed to hold.
What the Vera Chip Is and What It Claims to Do
Nvidia unveiled Vera at the GTC 2026 conference in March. The chip features 88 custom "Olympus" cores and 1.2 terabytes per second of memory bandwidth, according to Nvidia's own specifications. Nvidia claims it runs "up to 1.8 times faster" than the best competing server CPUs from Intel and AMD for agentic AI tasks.
"Agentic AI" refers to AI systems that reason, plan, and act on their own — not just respond to prompts. Nvidia says Vera is built for exactly this workload. Each processor is estimated to cost well above $20,000 before bulk discounts, TradingKey noted. Nvidia is projecting $20 billion in Vera revenue by the end of its fiscal year in January 2027.
Jensen Huang's China Trip Didn't Unlock GPU Sales
In May 2026, Huang joined President Trump's business delegation to Beijing, traveling on Air Force One alongside Elon Musk and Tim Cook. Despite the high-profile trip, the visit "did not result in a definitive approval for H200 sales or a formal agreement between Washington and Beijing," Reuters reported. GPU sales remain blocked.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has demanded Huang testify before the Senate Banking Committee over alleged chip diversion to China through third-party middlemen. Huang declined. Warren criticized him for attending "$1 million-per-plate dinners" instead of appearing before Congress, according to WCCFTech. Congressional scrutiny over Vera's potential military uses is expected to intensify.
Chinese Rivals and a Skeptical Market Are Watching Closely
Nvidia's China comeback is far from certain. During the years it was locked out, domestic chipmakers like Huawei gained real ground. Analysts note that Chinese firms have built AI software stacks around those local chips. Switching to Vera would mean rebuilding parts of that software infrastructure — a costly and time-consuming process, TradingView reported.
AMD has also pushed back on Nvidia's performance claims. The company says its upcoming Zen 6 EPYC "Venice" processors will outperform Vera by as much as 3.3x in certain server configurations. Meanwhile, Nvidia's stock has fallen for four straight weeks and remains stuck below the $210 mark, according to TradingView, as investors wait to see whether the Vera China push can actually deliver.
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