As the United States contemplates stricter trade restrictions aimed at preventing advanced chip technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a leading U.S.-based chip manufacturer, is reportedly developing a variant of its latest artificial intelligence chips to align with these regulations.
According to 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 a local distributor, Inspur, to market and distribute this chip, provisionally named the “B20,” in China.
The B20 is anticipated to begin shipments in the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has not provided any official comments regarding this development.
The chipmaker has designed three chips specifically to meet U.S. export regulations, including the H20, which Nvidia has reduced prices for in light of sluggish sales, competing against local rival Huawei. However, sales of the H20 have reportedly begun to rise, with expectations to sell over one million units in China this year, valued at approximately $12 billion, despite U.S. trade barriers, according to the Financial Times referencing SemiAnalysis data. This projected sales figure is nearly double Huawei’s anticipated sales for its Ascend 910B chip.
Concerns are mounting, however, that Nvidia’s H20 chips could face restrictions under new U.S. trade policies. Analysts at Jeffries have indicated in a recent report that during the U.S. annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, it is “highly likely” that the H20 may be prohibited for sale to China. Potential avenues for this ban could include a “product-specific ban,” lowering the computing power threshold, or imposing limits on memory capacity.
Additionally, the U.S. might consider extending export controls on chips sold to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or broaden the restrictions to overseas Chinese firms, although the latter would present greater implementation challenges, according to analyst assessments.