As the United States contemplates stricter trade regulations to prevent advanced chip technologies from reaching China, Nvidia, an American semiconductor manufacturer, is reportedly developing a version of its new artificial intelligence chips to meet these guidelines.
According to reports, Nvidia is creating a variant of its Blackwell AI chips specifically for the Chinese market, collaborating with local distributor Inspur to launch the chip, which is provisionally named the “B20.” It is anticipated that the B20 will begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025.
Nvidia has already introduced three chips designed to adhere to U.S. export controls, including the H20, for which it decreased prices in response to weak sales, in order to compete with offerings from domestic rival Huawei. However, recent reports indicate that sales of the H20 are on the rise, with expectations to surpass one million units sold in China this year, valued at approximately $12 billion, despite the ongoing U.S. trade restrictions.
Nevertheless, further U.S. trade regulations could pose risks for Nvidia’s H20 chips. Analysts from Jefferies have suggested that during the annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, it is likely that the H20 may face a sales ban in China. This prohibition could take various forms, including a product-specific ban, the imposition of lower computing power limits, or restrictions on memory capacity.
Furthermore, the U.S. might broaden its export controls on chips sold to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or potentially extend these controls to overseas companies linked to China, though the latter would be more challenging to enforce, analysts caution.