As the United States evaluates the possibility of stricter trade measures to prevent advanced chip technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a prominent U.S.-based semiconductor company, is reportedly developing a version of its new AI chips to align with these regulations.
According to Reuters, Nvidia is creating a variant of its Blackwell AI chips intended for the Chinese market, collaborating with a local partner, Inspur, to introduce and distribute the product, which is provisionally named the “B20.”
The B20 is anticipated to begin shipments in the second quarter of 2025, as per the information obtained by Reuters. Nvidia has not issued any official comments on the matter.
The chipmaker has already developed three chips that are designed to meet U.S. export control requirements, including the H20, which Nvidia recently reduced in price due to sluggish sales in order to remain competitive against domestic rival Huawei. However, the sales of the H20 chips have been on the rise. Reports suggest that Nvidia is expected to sell over one million H20 chips in China this year, generating approximately $12 billion in revenue, which is significantly higher than Huawei’s projected sales for its Ascend 910B chip, as indicated by data from SemiAnalysis.
At the same time, analysts from Jefferies caution that Nvidia’s H20 chips may be affected by future U.S. trade regulations. In light of the upcoming annual review of U.S. semiconductor export controls scheduled for October, the analysts suggest it is “highly likely” that the H20 will face a sales ban in China. Potential restrictions could involve a product-specific ban, a reduction in computing power limits, or restrictions on memory capacity.
Additionally, U.S. export controls on semiconductor products could potentially expand to other countries in the region, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or could even encompass overseas Chinese companies, although the latter may be more challenging to enforce, analysts noted.