As the U.S. contemplates stricter trade restrictions to prevent advanced chip technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a leading U.S.-based chipmaker, is reportedly developing a version of its new artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these regulations.
Sources familiar with the matter indicate that Nvidia plans to collaborate with local distributor Inspur to launch the new chip, provisionally named the “B20,” in the Chinese market. The B20 is anticipated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025.
Nvidia has already designed three chips to meet U.S. export controls, including the H20, which it has reduced prices on in response to sluggish sales compared to its main competitor, Huawei. However, sales of the H20 have started to increase, with projections suggesting that Nvidia could sell over one million of these chips in China this year, totaling around $12 billion, despite ongoing U.S. trade restrictions. This forecast is almost double that of Huawei’s sales expectations for its Ascend 910B chip.
However, Nvidia’s H20 chips may be vulnerable to further restrictions under upcoming U.S. trade regulations, according to analysts from Jefferies. In the annual review of semiconductor export controls taking place in October, it is highly probable that the H20 could be prohibited from being sold to China. This potential ban could be enacted in various forms, such as a specific product ban, a reduction in the allowable computing power, or limits on memory capacity.
Moreover, analysts suggest that the U.S. might broaden its export controls to include chips sold to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or even extend these controls to overseas Chinese firms, which would be more challenging to enforce.