As the United States explores the possibility of implementing stricter trade restrictions to hinder advanced chip equipment from reaching China, Nvidia, a prominent American chipmaker, is reportedly developing a variant of its new artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these regulations.
According to sources familiar with the developments, Nvidia is creating a version of its Blackwell AI chips intended for the Chinese market. The company plans to collaborate with a local distributor, Inspur, to introduce and market the chip, provisionally named the “B20,” in China. It is anticipated that the B20 will begin shipments in the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has not provided any comments on this matter.
Currently, Nvidia has three chip variants specifically designed to meet U.S. export controls. This includes the H20, which the company reduced prices for in response to underwhelming sales and competition from domestic rival Huawei. Sources indicate that sales of the H20 are now increasing, with Nvidia projected to sell over one million units in China this year, potentially generating around $12 billion, despite ongoing U.S. trade restrictions. This figure is nearly twice as high as Huawei’s projected sales for its Ascend 910B chip, according to data from SemiAnalysis.
However, analysts from Jefferies have pointed out that Nvidia’s H20 chips could face challenges under potential U.S. trade regulations. They foresee a high likelihood that during the upcoming annual review of U.S. semiconductor export controls in October, the H20 could be prohibited from being sold to China. This ban could be enacted in several ways, including a specific product ban, changes to computing power limits, or restrictions on memory capacity.
Additionally, there are considerations that the U.S. may broaden export controls on chips sold to other countries in the region, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or extend these controls to overseas Chinese companies, though the latter may be more challenging to implement according to analysts.