NVIDIA's H200 GPU, the most powerful AI training chip ever built, sold out its entire 2025 and 2026 allocation within 72 hours of order books opening. Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Apple collectively reserved over $40 billion worth of chips in what analysts are calling the largest single procurement event in semiconductor history.
The H200 delivers 4.8 terabytes per second of memory bandwidth β nearly double its predecessor β enabling training runs that would have been impossible 18 months ago. AI researchers say the chip makes training a GPT-4-class model 60% faster and 40% cheaper than previous generation hardware.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang called it "the engine of the industrial AI revolution." The company's market capitalization briefly exceeded $3.5 trillion on the news, surpassing Apple as the world's most valuable company.
The chip shortage is reshaping US geopolitics. The Biden administration has tightened export controls, blocking H200 sales to China and Russia, ensuring American AI companies maintain a hardware advantage measured in years.
