As the United States considers stricter trade regulations to limit the export of advanced chip technology to China, Nvidia, a prominent U.S.-based chip manufacturer, is reportedly developing a modified version of its new artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these new rules.
According to Reuters, Nvidia plans to introduce its Blackwell AI chip, tentatively named the “B20,” in collaboration with a local distribution partner, Inspur, specifically for the Chinese market. The B20 is anticipated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has not provided any official comments regarding these developments.
The company currently offers three chips that are designed to align with U.S. export restrictions, including the H20, which saw price cuts in response to weak sales in comparison to rival Huawei’s products. However, reports indicate that sales for the H20 are on the rise, with expectations to surpass a million units in China this year, potentially generating around $12 billion in revenue, despite existing U.S. trade barriers. This figure is nearly double Huawei’s projected sales for its Ascend 910B chip.
Additionally, analysts from Jeffries have expressed concern that Nvidia’s H20 chips might face challenges under imminent U.S. trade regulations. As the U.S. prepares for its annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, there is a strong possibility that the sale of H20 chips to China could be prohibited. The potential ban could be enacted in several ways, including a product-specific restriction, a reduction in computing power limits, or a cap on memory capacity.
Furthermore, there is speculation that the U.S. could broaden export limitations to cover chips sold to neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or extend these controls to overseas Chinese firms, although implementing such measures would be more complicated, according to expert analysts.