As the U.S. considers implementing stricter trade regulations to prevent advanced chip technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a prominent U.S.-based chip manufacturer, is reportedly developing a version of its latest artificial intelligence chips designed to adhere to these rules.
According to reports from unnamed sources, Nvidia is creating a chip known as the “B20” for the Chinese market, in collaboration with a local distributor, Inspur. The expected launch for shipping the B20 is slated for the second quarter of 2025.
Nvidia has already developed three chips tailored to comply with U.S. export controls, including the H20, which the company has reduced prices for due to weak sales, primarily in competition with chips from the domestic rival Huawei. However, recent reports indicate that sales of the H20 are on the rise. Nvidia anticipates selling over one million H20 chips in China this year, amounting to approximately $12 billion in revenue, despite ongoing U.S. trade restrictions. This projection is nearly double the sales expectations for Huawei’s Ascend 910B chip.
Analysts from Jefferies have raised concerns that Nvidia’s H20 chips may face challenges under potential new U.S. trade regulations. In their upcoming annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, the analysts suggest it is “highly likely” that the H20 will face a ban on sales to China. This ban could be executed in various ways, including a “product-specific ban,” reducing the computing power threshold, or imposing limits on memory capacity.
Moreover, there may be a possibility for the U.S. to broaden its export controls to include chips sold to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or to apply these restrictions to offshore Chinese entities, although implementing such measures could prove to be more challenging.