As the United States evaluates stricter trade restrictions to prevent advanced chip technology from reaching China, Nvidia, a prominent U.S. chip manufacturer, is reportedly developing a version of its new AI chips to meet these regulations.
According to sources, Nvidia is focusing on creating a specific variant of its Blackwell AI chips for the Chinese market, collaborating with a local partner, Inspur, for distribution and sales. The new chip, tentatively named the “B20,” is expected to start shipping by the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has not issued any comments regarding these developments.
Currently, Nvidia has three chip models tailored to align with U.S. export controls, including the H20, for which it has lowered prices to address diminishing sales in competition with Huawei’s domestic chips. Despite earlier struggles, sales of the H20 chip are reportedly on the rise. It is estimated that Nvidia will sell over one million H20 chips in China this year, generating approximately $12 billion in revenue, even with the existing U.S. restrictions. This expected performance significantly surpasses Huawei’s sales projections for its Ascend 910B chip.
However, analysts from Jefferies have indicated that Nvidia’s H20 chips could face further restrictions from U.S. trade policies. In light of the upcoming annual review of semiconductor export controls, there is a strong possibility that the sale of H20 chips to China could be prohibited. Such a ban could be enforced through various measures, including a specific product ban, tightening of computing power limits, or restricting memory capacity.
Additionally, there is potential for the U.S. to apply export controls on chips sold to other countries in the region, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or to foreign Chinese companies, although the latter would present more implementation challenges according to analysts.