Nvidia's $20bn AI chip pile-up - Asian Tech Roundup

About 600,000 Nvidia H200 AI chips are stockpiled in Hong Kong, Reuters reports, while Chinese authorities continue to block large-scale imports to the mainland. The stranded GPUs—typically priced at $32,000 to $40,000 each—are valued at roughly $20 billion in total, but could be worth far more on China’s grey market, potentially up to three times that amount given high demand. The impasse is part of Beijing’s push for self-sufficiency amid reliance on U.S. AI technology, even as some small shipments have been approved. The episode also highlights how restrictive access can translate directly into datacenter capacity constraints.