As the United States evaluates stricter trade regulations to prevent advanced chip technology from being exported to China, Nvidia, a prominent U.S.-based chip manufacturer, is reportedly developing a compliant version of its new artificial intelligence chips.
According to sources reported by Reuters, Nvidia is creating a variant of its Blackwell AI chips aimed at the Chinese market. The company plans to collaborate with a local distribution partner, Inspur, to introduce and market the chip, currently referred to as the “B20,” in China.
The B20 is anticipated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has chosen not to comment on these developments.
Nvidia has already designed three models of chips specifically to adhere to U.S. export regulations, including the H20. To boost sales in the face of competition from domestically produced chips by Huawei, Nvidia has reduced prices for the H20. Recent reports indicate that the H20’s sales are on the rise, with projections estimating that Nvidia could sell over one million H20 chips in China this year, valued at approximately $12 billion, despite existing U.S. trade restrictions.
However, according to analysts at Jeffries, Nvidia’s H20 chips may face additional risks under impending U.S. trade policies. The annual review of U.S. semiconductor export controls, scheduled for October, is likely to lead to a potential ban on the H20 chips sold to China. This could be enacted in various forms, such as a specific product ban, adjustments to the computing power threshold, or restrictions on memory capacity.
Moreover, the U.S. could expand its export controls to include semiconductor sales to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or extend these regulations to overseas Chinese companies, although implementing such measures may prove more complex.