As the United States contemplates more stringent trade restrictions aimed at preventing advanced chip technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a prominent U.S.-based chipmaker, is reportedly developing a modified version of its latest artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these regulations.
According to reports by Reuters, Nvidia is creating a version of its new Blackwell AI chips specifically for the Chinese market, in collaboration with a local distribution partner, Inspur. This new chip, provisionally named the “B20,” is expected to be ready for shipping by the second quarter of 2025.
Despite not providing comments on the situation, Nvidia is adjusting its strategy to comply with U.S. export controls. The company has already designed three chips that meet these restrictions, including the H20, which it has recently reduced in price to compete against offerings from the Chinese tech firm Huawei. Sources indicate that sales of the H20 chip are on the rise, with Nvidia projected to sell over one million units in China this year, amounting to approximately $12 billion, as reported by the Financial Times using data from SemiAnalysis. This figure is nearly double Huawei’s anticipated sales for its Ascend 910B chip.
However, analysts at Jefferies have cautioned that Nvidia’s H20 chips may also face jeopardy under further U.S. trade regulations. During the U.S. annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, there is a strong likelihood that the H20 may be prohibited from sale to China. This potential ban could manifest in several ways, including a specific ban on products, a reduction in computing power limits, or restrictions on memory capacity.
Additionally, there could be an extension of export controls on chips sold to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or to overseas Chinese firms, although implementing this would be more complex, as per analysts’ insights.