As the United States considers implementing stricter trade restrictions aimed at preventing advanced chip technology from reaching China, Nvidia, the American chip manufacturer, is reportedly developing a version of its new artificial intelligence chips that complies with these potential regulations.
According to sources quoted by Reuters, Nvidia is collaborating with Inspur, a local distribution partner in China, to introduce and sell a chip provisionally named “B20.” This chip is anticipated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025.
Although Nvidia did not provide comments on the report, the company has already designed three chips that align with U.S. export controls, including the H20. Nvidia recently reduced prices for the H20 to compete with chips manufactured by rival Huawei, although sales of the H20 are reportedly on the rise. Sources indicate that Nvidia could sell over one million H20 chips in China this year, generating approximately $12 billion in revenue despite existing trade limitations. This projected sales figure is nearly double Huawei’s expectations for its Ascend 910B chip.
However, analysts from Jefferies warn that further U.S. trade regulations could jeopardize the sales of H20 chips. During the annual review of U.S. semiconductor export controls in October, there is a strong possibility that the H20 could be prohibited from being sold to China. Analysts believe this ban could occur through a product-specific restriction, a reduction of the computing power limit, or limitations on memory capacity.
Additionally, there is concern that the U.S. might expand its export controls on semiconductor sales to other regional countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand or possibly extend these controls to Chinese companies operating overseas, though the latter would be more challenging to enforce, as per analyst insights.