As the United States evaluates stricter trade regulations to prevent advanced semiconductor technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a major U.S.-based chipmaker, is reportedly developing a variant of its latest artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these new rules.
According to reports from Reuters, Nvidia is creating a version of its Blackwell AI chips specifically for the Chinese market, in collaboration with a local distribution partner, Inspur. This new chip, provisionally named the “B20,” is expected to be available for shipment in the second quarter of 2025.
Nvidia has designed three types of chips to meet U.S. export control requirements, including the H20, for which the company has reduced prices in response to declining sales and competition from domestic rival Huawei. Despite earlier sales challenges, sources indicate that the H20 is now experiencing growth, with Nvidia projected to sell over one million of these chips in China this year, translating to approximately $12 billion in revenue, according to data from SemiAnalysis. This anticipated sales volume is nearly double that of Huawei’s forecast for its Ascend 910B chip.
However, analysts from Jefferies have warned that Nvidia’s H20 chips could face restriction under potential new U.S. trade policies. As the annual review of semiconductor export controls is set for October, there is a significant chance that the H20 may be prohibited from being sold to China. The restrictions could manifest in various forms, including specific bans on certain products, tightening of computing power limits, or capping memory capacity.
Moreover, the U.S. may extend its export controls on chips to other countries in the region, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or potentially apply the same restrictions to overseas Chinese firms, although analysts suggest this would be more complex to enforce.