As the United States contemplates stricter trade measures to prevent advanced chip technologies from reaching China, Nvidia, a prominent American chipmaker, is reportedly developing a modified version of its latest artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these regulations.
Nvidia is working on a version of its new Blackwell AI chips meant for the Chinese market, according to a Reuters report citing unnamed sources. The company plans to collaborate with a local distributor, Inspur, to introduce and sell the chip, which is currently referred to as the “B20,” in China.
The B20 is anticipated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025, as per information from sources. Nvidia did not provide any comments on this development.
The chip manufacturer already has three chips tailored to meet U.S. export restrictions, including the H20, for which it recently reduced prices to enhance competitiveness against domestic rival Huawei. Despite initial weak sales, sources indicated that H20 sales are now picking up. Nvidia is projected to sell over one million H20 chips in China this year, generating approximately $12 billion in revenue, according to data from SemiAnalysis cited by the Financial Times. This sales forecast is nearly double the expected sales for Huawei’s Ascend 910B chip.
Additionally, Nvidia’s H20 chips may face challenges under new U.S. trade regulations, as noted by Jefferies analysts. They suggested that during the U.S. government’s annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, a ban on the H20 chips for sale to China is highly probable. Three potential avenues for such a ban include a specific product ban, a reduction in the computing power threshold, or limitations on memory capacity.
Furthermore, the U.S. may widen export restrictions on chips sold to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or potentially apply similar controls to overseas Chinese companies, though the latter would be more difficult to enforce, according to analysts.