As the United States contemplates stricter trade restrictions to prevent advanced chip technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a prominent U.S.-based chipmaker, is reportedly developing a version of its new artificial intelligence chips that adheres to these regulations.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Nvidia is collaborating with a local distribution partner, Inspur, to launch and market a chip in China that is tentatively named the “B20.” This updated version of Nvidia’s Blackwell AI chips is anticipated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025, though Nvidia has not provided any comments on the report.
Nvidia has already produced three chips that are specifically designed to comply with U.S. export restrictions, one of which is the H20. Following subdued sales, Nvidia reduced the prices of the H20 to remain competitive against homegrown rival Huawei. Recently, reports indicated that sales of the H20 have started to grow, with Nvidia projected to sell over one million units of this chip in China this year, potentially generating around $12 billion in revenue. This sales estimate is nearly double that of Huawei’s predicted sales for its Ascend 910B chip.
However, analysts at Jefferies have noted that Nvidia’s H20 chips might face challenges under imminent U.S. trade regulations. They anticipate that during the U.S. annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, it is “highly likely” that the H20 chip will be prohibited from being sold in China. Analysts outlined that this ban could be implemented through various means, such as a specific product ban, reducing the allowable computing power, or imposing limits on memory capacity.
Moreover, there is the possibility that export controls on chips could be expanded to include other countries in the region like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or that regulations could be extended to overseas Chinese companies, although the latter would prove more challenging to enforce, as per the analysts’ assessments.