As the United States assesses stricter trade measures to prevent advanced semiconductor technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a U.S.-based chip manufacturer, is reportedly developing a version of its new artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these restrictions.
According to unnamed sources cited by Reuters, Nvidia is creating a variant of its Blackwell AI chips tailored for the Chinese market. The company plans to collaborate with a local distributor, Inspur, to introduce and market the chip, which is tentatively named the “B20,” in China.
The B20 is anticipated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025, the report indicated. Nvidia has not provided any comments regarding this development.
Nvidia currently has three chips designed to comply with U.S. export regulations, including the H20, for which the company has reduced prices to bolster sales against domestic competitor Huawei. Sources revealed that sales of the H20 have been increasing, with Nvidia projected to sell over one million units of this chip in China this year, valued at approximately $12 billion, despite existing U.S. trade barriers. This figure is nearly double Huawei’s anticipated sales for its Ascend 910B chip, according to data from SemiAnalysis.
However, analysts at Jefferies have expressed concerns that Nvidia’s H20 chips may face challenges due to potential new U.S. trade regulations. The upcoming annual review of semiconductor export controls in October could lead to a prohibition of H20 sales to China, as noted by the analysts. They outlined that the ban might be enforced through specific product restrictions, adjustments to computing power limits, or modifications to memory capacity constraints.
Furthermore, the U.S. may expand its export controls on semiconductor shipments to other regional countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or even extend the restrictions to overseas Chinese firms, although enforcing such measures could prove to be more complicated, according to analysts.