As the United States deliberates on implementing stricter trade restrictions aimed at preventing advanced chip technology from being exported to China, Nvidia, a prominent U.S.-based chip manufacturer, is reportedly developing a compliant version of its latest artificial intelligence chips.
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According to reports from Reuters, Nvidia is collaborating with a local partner, Inspur, to introduce a chip tentatively named the “B20” in the Chinese market. This move comes as the company works to ensure that its products align with U.S. export regulations.
The B20 chip is expected to commence shipping by the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has not publicly commented on these developments.
The company has already designed three chips tailored to comply with U.S. export laws, including the H20. Following a price reduction to counteract sluggish sales against local competitor Huawei, H20 demand is reportedly increasing. This year, Nvidia anticipates selling over one million H20 chips in China, valued at around $12 billion, despite the existing trade restrictions. According to data from SemiAnalysis cited by the Financial Times, Nvidia’s anticipated sales projections exceed Huawei’s expectations for its Ascend 910B chip.
However, analysts from Jefferies expressed concerns that Nvidia’s H20 chips could face risks under new U.S. trade regulations. In their annual review of semiconductor export controls scheduled for October, there is a strong likelihood that the sale of H20 chips to China may be prohibited. Potential methods for imposing a ban could include a product-specific restriction, a reduction in computing power limits, or capping memory capacity.
Additionally, U.S. authorities may consider broadening export restrictions to chips sold to neighboring countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or even extending these controls to overseas Chinese firms, although the latter would be more challenging to enforce, analysts noted.