As the United States considers imposing stricter trade regulations to prevent advanced chip technology from being exported to China, Nvidia, a major U.S. chipmaker, is reportedly developing a variant of its latest artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these new rules.
According to unnamed sources cited by Reuters, Nvidia is creating a version of its new Blackwell AI chips tailored for the Chinese market. The company plans to collaborate with local distribution partner Inspur to introduce and market this chip, tentatively named “B20,” in China.
Sources indicate that the B20 is scheduled to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has not provided any official comments regarding this matter.
Currently, Nvidia offers three chip models designed to align with U.S. export regulations, including the H20, which has seen price reductions due to sluggish sales and competition from domestic rival Huawei. However, recent reports indicate that sales of the H20 are on the rise, with Nvidia expected to sell over one million units in China this year, amounting to approximately $12 billion, despite existing U.S. trade restrictions. This projection aligns closely with SemiAnalysis data, which states that Nvidia’s sales will nearly outpace Huawei’s sales expectations for its Ascend 910B chip.
Nonetheless, analysts from Jeffries have expressed concerns that Nvidia’s H20 chips may face challenges under potential new U.S. trade regulations. With the upcoming annual review of U.S. semiconductor export controls in October, they suggest that it is highly probable H20 sales to China could be prohibited. This ban could manifest in different forms, such as a specific product ban, a reduction in computing power limitations, or restrictions on memory capacity.
Furthermore, the U.S. might broaden export controls on chips destined for other countries in the region, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or potentially extend those controls to overseas Chinese firms, although such measures could prove difficult to enforce, analysts have noted.