As the United States deliberates on implementing stricter trade restrictions to prevent advanced chip technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer, is reportedly developing a version of its advanced AI chips designed to comply with these regulations.
According to a report from Reuters, Nvidia is creating a variant of its new Blackwell AI chips intended 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 chips are anticipated to begin shipping by the second quarter of 2025, as stated by a source familiar with the situation. Nvidia has opted not to comment on these developments.
Nvidia has already introduced three chips tailored to meet U.S. export control requirements, including the H20, which the company has reduced prices for in response to weak sales against domestic rival Huawei. However, recent reports indicate that sales of the H20 are on the rise, with Nvidia projected to sell over one million units of the H20 in China this year, generating approximately $12 billion in revenue, despite existing U.S. trade restrictions. This sales figure is nearly double what Huawei expects to achieve with its Ascend 910B chip.
Despite this success, analysts from Jefferies have warned that Nvidia’s H20 chips could face challenges under potential new U.S. trade regulations. They predict that during the annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, it is highly probable that the sale of H20 chips to China will be prohibited. The ban could materialize in several forms, including a specific product ban, a reduction in allowable computing power, or restrictions on memory capacity.
Furthermore, U.S. authorities might extend these export controls to chips sold to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or even broaden the restrictions to include overseas Chinese companies, although implementing such measures could prove more complex, as per the analysts.