As the United States considers implementing stricter trade restrictions aimed at preventing advanced chip technology from being exported to China, Nvidia, a leading chip manufacturer based in the U.S., is reportedly developing a modified version of its new artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these regulations.
According to reports from Reuters, Nvidia is creating a variant of its upcoming Blackwell AI chips specifically for the Chinese market, and is collaborating with local distributor Inspur to introduce the chip, tentatively named “B20,” in China.
The B20 is anticipated to begin shipping around the second quarter of 2025, as per insights shared with Reuters. Nvidia has not provided any official comments regarding the report.
The company currently has three chip models designed to align with U.S. export regulations, one of which is the H20 chip. Despite experiencing weaker sales, Nvidia has lowered prices to compete with domestic rival Huawei. Recently, sales of the H20 chips have reportedly been increasing, with estimates suggesting that Nvidia could ship over one million H20 chips in China this year, valued at approximately $12 billion, despite ongoing trade restrictions, as highlighted by the Financial Times and SemiAnalysis.
In contrast, Nvidia’s projected sales of the H20 are nearly double those anticipated for Huawei’s Ascend 910B chip, according to the same data.
However, analysts at Jefferies warn that Nvidia’s H20 chips may face increased risks amid potential U.S. trade policy changes. As the U.S. conducts its annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, there is a significant possibility that the H20 could be prohibited from being sold in China. The potential ban could manifest in various forms, including a specific product ban, a reduction in allowable computing power, or limitations on memory capacity.
Additionally, there is a possibility of extending export controls to chips sold to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or even to overseas Chinese companies, although analysts note that implementing such measures may prove more challenging.