As the United States considers implementing stricter trade restrictions to prevent advanced chip technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a prominent American chip manufacturer, is reportedly developing a compliant version of its latest artificial intelligence chips. According to sources familiar with the situation, the company is collaborating with a local distribution partner, Inspur, to introduce the chip, provisionally named “B20,” in the Chinese market.
The B20 is slated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025, as reported by Reuters. While Nvidia refrained from providing any comments on the matter, it has designed three chips to align with U.S. export regulations, including the H20, which was recently price-adjusted to respond to declining sales and to compete against domestic rival Huawei. It appears that sales of the H20 are on the rise, with forecasts suggesting Nvidia will sell over one million H20 chips in China this year, generating approximately $12 billion in revenue, as indicated by data from SemiAnalysis and reported by the Financial Times. This anticipated sales volume is nearly twice as much as Huawei’s projections for its Ascend 910B chip.
However, Jefferies analysts have highlighted potential risks for Nvidia’s H20 chips due to looming U.S. trade regulations. They anticipate that during the annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, a ban on the H20 for sale to China is “highly likely.” Such a ban could manifest in several ways, including a specific prohibition on the product, a reduction in the computing power cap, or limitations on memory capacity.
Furthermore, the U.S. may consider extending these export restrictions to chips sold to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. There is also the possibility of expanding these controls to overseas Chinese companies, though analysts note that implementing such measures could be more complex.