As the U.S. contemplates stricter trade measures to hinder advanced chip technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a leading American chip manufacturer, is reportedly developing a version of its new artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these regulations.
Nvidia is said to be creating a variant of its Blackwell AI chips aimed at the Chinese market, as reported by Reuters, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the situation. The company plans to collaborate with local distributor Inspur to launch and market the chip, provisionally named the “B20,” in China.
Sources indicate that the B20 is anticipated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has declined to provide comments on the matter.
The chipmaker has introduced three chips specifically designed to meet U.S. export regulations. Among these is the H20, which Nvidia reduced prices for due to lackluster sales and competition from the domestic firm Huawei. However, recent reports suggest that sales of the H20 are improving. Nvidia is expected to sell over one million H20 chips in China this year, generating approximately $12 billion in revenue, despite existing U.S. trade constraints, according to the Financial Times, referencing SemiAnalysis data. This projection is nearly double Huawei’s anticipated sales for its Ascend 910B chip.
On another note, analysts from Jefferies warned that Nvidia’s H20 chips may face challenges under enhanced U.S. trade regulations. In their assessment, they indicated that during the upcoming annual review of U.S. semiconductor export controls in October, it is quite possible that the H20 could be prohibited from being sold to China. Analysts noted that such a ban could take various forms, including a “product-specific ban,” lowering the computational power limit, or imposing restrictions on memory capacity.
Additionally, there is a possibility that the U.S. could broaden export restrictions on chips sold to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or even extend regulations to overseas Chinese firms, although the latter would be more complex to enforce.