As the United States considers stricter trade restrictions to hinder the export of advanced chip technology to China, Nvidia, a leading American chipmaker, is reportedly developing a variant of its new artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these new regulations.
According to unnamed sources cited by Reuters, Nvidia is creating a version of its Blackwell AI chips for the Chinese market. The company plans to collaborate with local distributor Inspur to introduce and market the chip, which is provisionally named the “B20,” in China.
Sources indicated that the B20 is anticipated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has not provided any comments on the matter.
Currently, Nvidia has developed three chips specifically designed to comply with U.S. export controls, including the H20. The company has reduced prices for the H20 in response to lagging sales to better compete with domestic competitor Huawei. However, reports suggest that sales of the H20 are now increasing, with projections indicating that Nvidia could sell over one million units of its H20 chips in China this year, amounting to approximately $12 billion, according to data from SemiAnalysis. This forecast is nearly double Huawei’s expectations for its Ascend 910B chip.
In a related note, analysts from Jefferies warned that Nvidia’s H20 chips could face risks from potential new U.S. trade regulations. As the U.S. prepares for its annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, the analysts indicated that it is “highly likely” that the H20 may be banned from sale to China. Such a ban could occur through various means, including a specific product ban, a reduction in computing power limits, or restrictions on memory capacity.
Furthermore, the U.S. may consider broadening export controls on chips sold to other nations in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or extending these measures to overseas Chinese enterprises, although the latter would be more challenging to implement, according to market analysts.