Nvidia Developing New AI Chip for Chinese Market Amid Export Restrictions

Nvidia preparing version of new flagship AI chip for Chinese market, sources say

SINGAPORE, July 22 (Reuters) - Nvidia is working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compatible with current U.S. export controls, four sources familiar with the matter said. The AI chip giant in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which is due to be mass-produced later in the year. The new processors combine two squares of silicon the size of the company's previous offering. Within the series, the B200 is 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots. Nvidia will work with Inspur, one of its major distributor partners in China, on the launch and distribution of the chip which is tentatively named the "B20", two of the sources said. Shipments of the "B20" are planned to start in the second quarter of 2025, a separate source told Reuters. The sources declined to be identified as Nvidia has yet to make a public announcement. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Inspur did not respond to requests for comment. Shares of Nvidia rose 1.4% to $119.67 in U.S. premarket trading after publication of the Reuters story. Washington tightened its controls on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors to China in 2023, seeking to prevent breakthroughs in supercomputing that would aid China's military. Since then, Nvidia has developed three chips tailored specifically for the Chinese market. The advent of tighter export U.S. controls has helped Chinese technology giant Huawei and startups like Tencent-backed Enflame make some inroads into the domestic market for advanced AI processors. A version of a chip from Nvidia's Blackwell series for the Chinese market would boost the U.S. firm's efforts to fend off those challenges. China accounted for around 17% of Nvidia's revenue in the year to end-January in the wake of U.S. sanctions, sliding from 26% two years earlier. Nvidia's most advanced chip for the China market, the H20, initially got off to a weak start when deliveries began this year and the U.S. firm priced it below a rival chip from Huawei, Reuters reported in May. But sales are now growing rapidly, two of the sources said. Nvidia is on track to sell over 1 million of its H20 chips in China this year, worth upwards of $12 billion, according to an estimate from research group SemiAnalysis. Expectations are high that the U.S. will continue to keep up the pressure on semiconductor-related export controls. The U.S. wants the Netherlands and Japan to further restrict chipmaking equipment to China, sources have said. The Biden administration also has preliminary plans to place guardrails around the most advanced AI Models, the core software of artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, sources have said. Chip stocks globally tumbled last week after Bloomberg News reported that Biden's administration was weighing a measure called the foreign direct product rule that would allow the U.S. to stop a product from being sold if it was made using American technology. (Reporting by Fanny Potkin in Singapore; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Edwina Gibbs, Kirsten Donovan)

Nvidia preparing version of new flagship AI chip for Chinese market, Reuters reports

People visit the booth of chip maker NVidia at MWC Shanghai 2024 in Shanghai. Nvidia is working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compatible with current U.S. export controls, four sources familiar with the matter said. The AI chip giant in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which is due to be mass-produced later in the year. The new processors combine two squares of silicon the size of the company's previous offering. Within the series, the B200 is 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots. Nvidia will work with Inspur, one of its major distributor partners in China, on the launch and distribution of the chip which is tentatively named the "B20", two of the sources said. Shipments of the "B20" are planned to start in the second quarter of 2025, a separate source told Reuters. The sources declined to be identified as Nvidia has yet to make a public announcement. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Inspur did not respond to requests for comment. Shares of Nvidia rose 1.4% to $119.67 in U.S. premarket trading after publication of the Reuters story. Washington tightened its controls on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors to China in 2023, seeking to prevent breakthroughs in supercomputing that would aid China's military. Since then, Nvidia has developed three chips tailored specifically for the Chinese market. The advent of tighter export U.S. controls has helped Chinese technology giant Huawei and startups like Tencent-backed Enflame make some inroads into the domestic market for advanced AI processors. A version of a chip from Nvidia's Blackwell series for the Chinese market would boost the U.S. firm's efforts to fend off those challenges. China accounted for around 17% of Nvidia's revenue in the year to end January in the wake of U.S. sanctions, sliding from 26% two years earlier. Nvidia's most advanced chip for the China market, the H20, initially got off to a weak start when deliveries began this year and the U.S. firm priced it below a rival chip from Huawei, Reuters reported in May. But sales are now growing rapidly, two of the sources said. Nvidia is on track to sell over 1 million of its H20 chips in China this year, worth upwards of $12 billion, according to an estimate from research group SemiAnalysis. Expectations are high that the U.S. will continue to keep up the pressure on semiconductor-related export controls. The U.S. wants the Netherlands and Japan to further restrict chipmaking equipment to China, sources have said. The Biden administration also has preliminary plans to place guardrails around the most advanced AI Models, the core software of artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, sources have said. Chip stocks globally tumbled last week after Bloomberg News reported that Biden's administration was weighing a measure called the foreign direct product rule that would allow the U.S. to stop a product from being sold if it was made using American technology.

Nvidia preparing version of new flagship AI chip for Chinese market, sources say

SINGAPORE - Nvidia is working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compatible with current U.S. export controls, three sources familiar with the matter said. The AI chip giant in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which is due to be mass-produced later in the year. The new processors combine two squares of silicon the size of the company's previous offering. Within the series, the B200 is 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots. Nvidia will work with Inspur, one of its major distributor partners in China, on the launch and distribution of the chip which is tentatively named the "B20", two of the sources said. The sources declined to be identified as Nvidia has yet to make a public announcement. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Inspur did not respond to requests for comment. Washington tightened its controls on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors to China in 2023, seeking to prevent breakthroughs in supercomputing that would aid China's military. Since then, Nvidia has developed three chips tailored specifically for the Chinese market. The advent of tighter export U.S. controls has helped Chinese technology giant Huawei and startups like Tencent-backed Enflame make some inroads into the domestic market for advanced AI processors. A version of a chip from Nvidia's Blackwell series for the Chinese market would boost the U.S. firm's efforts to fend off those challenges. China accounted for around 17% of Nvidia's revenue in the year to end-January in the wake of U.S. sanctions, sliding from 26% two years earlier. Nvidia's most advanced chip for the China market, the H20, initially got off to a weak start when deliveries began this year and the U.S. firm priced it below a rival chip from Huawei, Reuters reported in May. But sales are now growing rapidly, two of the sources said. Nvidia is on track to sell over 1 million of its H20 chips in China this year, worth upwards of $12 billion, according to an estimate from research group SemiAnalysis. Expectations are high that the U.S. will continue to keep up the pressure on semiconductor-related export controls. The U.S. wants the Netherlands and Japan to further restrict chipmaking equipment to China, sources have said. The Biden administration also has preliminary plans to place guardrails around the most advanced AI Models, the core software of artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, sources have said. Chip stocks globally tumbled last week after Bloomberg News reported that Biden's administration was weighing a measure called the foreign direct product rule that would allow the U.S. to stop a product from being sold if it was made using American technology. (Reporting by Fanny Potkin in Singapore; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Edwina Gibbs)

Nvidia preparing version of new flagship AI chip for Chinese market, sources say

Nvidia is working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compatible with current US export controls, four sources familiar with the matter said. The AI chip giant in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which is due to be mass-produced later in the year. The new processors combine two squares of silicon the size of the company's previous offering. Within the series, the B200 is 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots. Nvidia will work with Inspur, one of its major distributor partners in China, on the launch and distribution of the chip which is tentatively named the "B20", two of the sources said. Shipments of the "B20" are planned to start in the second quarter of 2025, a separate source told Reuters. The sources declined to be identified as Nvidia has yet to make a public announcement. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Inspur did not respond to requests for comment. Shares of Nvidia rose 1.4% to $119.67 in U.S. premarket trading after publication of the Reuters story. Washington tightened its controls on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors to China in 2023, seeking to prevent breakthroughs in supercomputing that would aid China's military. Since then, Nvidia has developed three chips tailored specifically for the Chinese market. The advent of tighter export U.S. controls has helped Chinese technology giant Huawei and startups like Tencent-backed Enflame make some inroads into the domestic market for advanced AI processors. A version of a chip from Nvidia's Blackwell series for the Chinese market would boost the US firm's efforts to fend off those challenges. Chip stocks globally tumbled last week after Bloomberg News reported that Biden's administration was weighing a measure called the foreign direct product rule that would allow the US to stop a product from being sold if it was made using American technology.

EXCLUSIVE -Nvidia preparing version of new flaghip AI chip for Chinese market, sources say

SINGAPORE, July 22 - Nvidia is working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compatible with current U.S. export controls, three sources familiar with the matter said. The AI chip giant in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which is due to be mass produced later in the year. Within that series, the B200 is 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots. Nvidia will work with Inspur, one of its major distributor partners in China, on the launch and distribution of the chip which is tentatively named the "B20," two of the sources said. The sources declined to be identified as Nvidia has yet to make a public announcement. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Inspur did not respond to requests for comment. Washington tightened its controls on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors to China in 2023, seeking to prevent breakthroughs in supercomputing that would aid China's military. Since then, Nvidia has developed three chips tailored specifically for the Chinese market. (Reporting by Fanny Potkin in Singapore; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Edwina Gibbs)

Nvidia preparing version of new flaghip AI chip for Chinese market

Nvidia's B20 chip for China, part of the Blackwell series, meets 2023 U.S. export controls. Collaborating with Inspur, its official announcement is pending. U.S. export regulations aim to prevent China's military advancements. The B200, a speedy chatbot response chip, is part of this series. Production is set for this year.Nvidia is working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compatible with current U.S. export controls, three sources familiar with the matter said. The AI chip giant in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which is due to be mass produced later in the year. Within that series, the B200 is 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots. Nvidia will work with Inspur, one of its major distributor partners in China, on the launch and distribution of the chip which is tentatively named the "B20", two of the sources said. The sources declined to be identified as Nvidia has yet to make a public announcement. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Inspur did not respond to requests for comment. Washington tightened its controls on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors to China in 2023, seeking to prevent breakthroughs in supercomputing that would aid China's military. Since then, Nvidia has developed three chips tailored specifically for the Chinese market.

Exclusive: Nvidia preparing version of new flagship AI chip for Chinese market, sources say

SINGAPORE, July 22 (Reuters) - Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab is working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compatible with current U.S. export controls, three sources familiar with the matter said. The AI chip giant in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which is due to be mass-produced later in the year. The new processors combine two squares of silicon the size of the company's previous offering. Within the series, the B200 is 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots. Nvidia will work with Inspur, one of its major distributor partners in China, on the launch and distribution of the chip which is tentatively named the "B20", two of the sources said. The sources declined to be identified as Nvidia has yet to make a public announcement. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Inspur did not respond to requests for comment. Washington tightened its controls on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors to China in 2023, seeking to prevent breakthroughs in supercomputing that would aid China's military. Since then, Nvidia has developed three chips tailored specifically for the Chinese market. The advent of tighter export U.S. controls has helped Chinese technology giant Huawei (HWT.UL) and startups like Tencent-backed (0700.HK), opens new tab Enflame make some inroads into the domestic market for advanced AI processors. A version of a chip from Nvidia's Blackwell series for the Chinese market would boost the U.S. firm's efforts to fend off those challenges. China accounted for around 17% of Nvidia's revenue in the year to end-January in the wake of U.S. sanctions, sliding from 26% two years earlier. Nvidia's most advanced chip for the China market, the H20, initially got off to a weak start when deliveries began this year and the U.S. firm priced it below a rival chip from Huawei, Reuters reported in May. But sales are now growing rapidly, two of the sources said. Nvidia is on track to sell over 1 million of its H20 chips in China this year, worth upwards of $12 billion, according to an estimate from research group SemiAnalysis. Expectations are high that the U.S. will continue to keep up the pressure on semiconductor-related export controls. The U.S. wants the Netherlands and Japan to further restrict chipmaking equipment to China, sources have said. The Biden administration also has preliminary plans to place guardrails around the most advanced AI Models, the core software of artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, sources have said. Chip stocks globally tumbled last week after Bloomberg News reported that Biden's administration was weighing a measure called the foreign direct product rule that would allow the U.S. to stop a product from being sold if it was made using American technology. Reporting by Fanny Potkin in Singapore; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Edwina Gibbs Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Nvidia preparing version of new flagship AI chip for Chinese market

Nvidia is working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compatible with current U.S. export controls, four sources familiar with the matter said. The AI chip giant in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which is due to be mass-produced later in the year. The new processors combine two squares of silicon the size of the company's previous offering. Within the series, the B200 is 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots. Nvidia will work with Inspur, one of its major distributor partners in China, on the launch and distribution of the chip which is tentatively named the "B20", two of the sources said. Shipments of the "B20" are planned to start in the second quarter of 2025, a separate source told Reuters. The sources declined to be identified as Nvidia has yet to make a public announcement. (For top technology news of the day, subscribe to our tech newsletter Today's Cache) A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Inspur did not respond to requests for comment. Shares of Nvidia rose 1.4% to $119.67 in U.S. premarket trading after publication of the Reuters story. Washington tightened its controls on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors to China in 2023, seeking to prevent breakthroughs in supercomputing that would aid China's military. Since then, Nvidia has developed three chips tailored specifically for the Chinese market. The advent of tighter export U.S. controls has helped Chinese technology giant Huawei and startups like Tencent-backed Enflame make some inroads into the domestic market for advanced AI processors. A version of a chip from Nvidia's Blackwell series for the Chinese market would boost the U.S. firm's efforts to fend off those challenges. China accounted for around 17% of Nvidia's revenue in the year to end-January in the wake of U.S. sanctions, sliding from 26% two years earlier. Nvidia's most advanced chip for the China market, the H20, initially got off to a weak start when deliveries began this year and the U.S. firm priced it below a rival chip from Huawei, Reuters reported in May. But sales are now growing rapidly, two of the sources said. Nvidia is on track to sell over 1 million of its H20 chips in China this year, worth upwards of $12 billion, according to an estimate from research group SemiAnalysis. Expectations are high that the U.S. will continue to keep up the pressure on semiconductor-related export controls. The U.S. wants the Netherlands and Japan to further restrict chipmaking equipment to China, sources have said. The Biden administration also has preliminary plans to place guardrails around the most advanced AI Models, the core software of artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, sources have said. Chip stocks globally tumbled last week after Bloomberg News reported that Biden's administration was weighing a measure called the foreign direct product rule that would allow the U.S. to stop a product from being sold if it was made using American technology. Read Comments

Nvidia preparing version of new flagship AI chip for Chinese market - ET Telecom

By Fanny Potkin SINGAPORE: Nvidia is working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compatible with current U.S. export controls, three sources familiar with the matter said. The AI chip giant in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which is due to be mass produced later in the year. Within that series, the B200 is 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots. Nvidia will work with Inspur, one of its major distributor partners in China, on the launch and distribution of the chip which is tentatively named the "B20", two of the sources said. The sources declined to be identified as Nvidia has yet to make a public announcement. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Inspur did not respond to requests for comment. Washington tightened its controls on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors to China in 2023, seeking to prevent breakthroughs in supercomputing that would aid China's military. Since then, Nvidia has developed three chips tailored specifically for the Chinese market.

Nvidia Is Making New Version of Blackwell AI Chip for China

US chip giant Nvidia is developing a new version of its Blackwell chip series specifically for the Chinese market so that the tech firm can adhere to US export rules while still profiting from China's computing market, Reuters reports Monday, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the plans. The new AI offering for China is dubbed the B20 for now, but it's unclear if that will be the final name of the product. The B20 could be a less-powerful version of its B200 chip announced earlier this year. Nvidia is working with the Chinese firm Inspur to launch the chip, according to the report. PCMag has reached out to Nvidia for comment. Nvidia has previously designed the L20 PCIe, the L2 PCIe, and the HGX H20 chips for the Chinese market to adhere to US export rules. In 2022, the US barred the sale and shipment of advanced AI chips to China. Nvidia has repeatedly expressed that it's following the rules, but US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo isn't happy the company keeps redesigning its AI chips so it can sell altered versions to China. "If you redesign a chip around a particular cutline that enables them to do AI, I'm going to control it the very next day," Raimondo said on the issue back in December, adding: "Protecting our national security matters more than short-term revenue." But there are plenty of loopholes China-based buyers can exploit to work around the US rules and gain access to the restricted chips anyway. Chinese companies can use the hardware virtually by renting it via Microsoft and Google cloud servers. Others are reportedly bringing the restricted hardware into China via another country where such export rules don't exist. And some server products containing the advanced chips are still making it to China as well. While the US has ramped up its domestic chip manufacturing industry thanks to billions in funding from Biden's CHIPS Act, Chinese firms like Huawei and Tencent's Enflame are developing their own chips, too. TikTok's parent company ByteDance is also reportedly developing its own AI chip this year that TSMC will manufacture, but it's unclear when exactly the new tech might go into production.

Exclusive-Nvidia preparing version of new flagship AI chip for Chinese market, sources say

Nvidia will work with Inspur, one of its major distributor partners in China, on the launch and distribution of the chip which is tentatively named the "B20", two of the sources said. The sources declined to be identified as Nvidia has yet to make a public announcement. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Inspur did not respond to requests for comment. Washington tightened its controls on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors to China in 2023, seeking to prevent breakthroughs in supercomputing that would aid China's military. Since then, Nvidia has developed three chips tailored specifically for the Chinese market. The advent of tighter export U.S. controls has helped Chinese technology giant Huawei and startups like Tencent-backed Enflame make some inroads into the domestic market for advanced AI processors. A version of a chip from Nvidia's Blackwell series for the Chinese market would boost the U.S. firm's efforts to fend off those challenges. China accounted for around 17% of Nvidia's revenue in the year to end-January in the wake of U.S. sanctions, sliding from 26% two years earlier. Nvidia's most advanced chip for the China market, the H20, initially got off to a weak start when deliveries began this year and the U.S. firm priced it below a rival chip from Huawei, Reuters reported in May. But sales are now growing rapidly, two of the sources said. Nvidia is on track to sell over 1 million of its H20 chips in China this year, worth upwards of $12 billion, according to an estimate from research group SemiAnalysis. Expectations are high that the U.S. will continue to keep up the pressure on semiconductor-related export controls. The U.S. wants the Netherlands and Japan to further restrict chipmaking equipment to China, sources have said. The Biden administration also has preliminary plans to place guardrails around the most advanced AI Models, the core software of artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, sources have said. Chip stocks globally tumbled last week after Bloomberg News reported that Biden's administration was weighing a measure called the foreign direct product rule that would allow the U.S. to stop a product from being sold if it was made using American technology. (Reporting by Fanny Potkin in Singapore; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Edwina Gibbs)

Nvidia said to be prepping Blackwell GPUs for China

But will they ship before the Biden administration tightens export controls? Comment US trade restrictions on the sale of AI accelerators to China haven't detered Nvidia from bringing its latest Blackwell architecture to the Middle Kingdom. According to a report citing unnamed sources, Nvidia is preparing yet another GPU for the Chinese market that is designed to slip under the US Commerce Department's performance limits. The chip, called the B20, will be based on the GPU giant's Blackwell architecture announced back at GTC in the spring. Compared to its prior-gen Hopper architecture, Nvidia claims its Blackwell-based chips is between 2.5x and 5x faster in terms of raw floating point precision. Nvidia has reportedly tapped Chinese system builder Inspur as the prime distributor for the chip, with shipments allegedly slated to begin in the second quarter of next year. Inspur's position on the US Entities List, a prize it allegedly won by flogging off US tech to the Chinese military, could however prove problematic, assuming of course the report turns out to be accurate. However, pre-existing export controls are likely to limit the potency of Nvidia's next batch of China market chips. This is because, Nvidia H20, currently the most powerful chip it can sell in the region without license, is already running up against the limit of what's allowed for export. US export controls implemented last October established caps on "total processing performance" and "performance density." The rules effectively barred the sale of many Nvidia datacenter cards and briefly blocked the consumer focused RTX 4090, before a special model for the Chinese market could be rolled out. However, within a month of the rules going into effect, rumblings of a trio of cut down cards designed to slide under these limits had surfaced. The most powerful of these being the 96GB H20, which boasts 296 teraFLOPS of FP8 performance. As we understand it, a B20 accelerator would be capped at the same performance level, at least in terms of FP8 performance. Blackwell introduced support for FP4 data types and because of this, we expect the advertised teraFLOPS figure to be twice that of the H20 even though they aren't directly comparable. If you're curious, you can find a full breakdown of how these performance and compute density limits are calculated here. But while US export controls mean the floating point performance and compute density of these chips remains limited, that doesn't mean a B20 couldn't offer a generational improvement in performance. When it comes to running pre-trained large language models, performance, often measured in tokens per second, is limited more by memory bandwidth than how many FLOPS or TOPS the chip can push. As such, any increase in memory bandwidth over the H20, which is apparently capable of 4TB/s, should result in sizable performance gains, at least inferencing. How big those gains will actually be will depend on how the chip is architected and just how many HBM stacks it's paired with. Nvidia declined The Register's request for comment on the B20. It's no secret that US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo isn't a big fan of Nvidia and other chip makers running within a hair of export limits. "I'm telling you, if you redesign a chip around a particular cutline that enables them to do AI, I am going to control it the very next day," she said in a clear reference to Nvidia during a defense forum late last year. The Biden Administration is now widely expected to enact more stringent export controls in the coming months to stifle Chinese AI development. Considering the outsized impact of memory bandwidth and capacity on the performance of AI chatbots, it wouldn't surprise us to see new limits targeting this spec. As we mentioned earlier, memory bandwidth has a direct impact on the number of AI tokens -- that's words, phrases, punctuation or figures -- a chip can spit out in a given second. Meanwhile memory capacity governs how large a model can be deployed on a single GPU or accelerator. Because of this, chips like Nvidia's H20 remain quite potent, even compared to the venerable H100, for less compute-bound workloads like running, as opposed to training, AI chatbots. A cap on memory bandwidth could severely restrict sales of US chips to China. Whatever happens, any additional restrictions will no doubt have a material impact on Nvidia's business as China still accounts for roughly 17 percent of the company's annual revenues. However such a measure wouldn't stop the development of domestic accelerators like the ones we've seen from Moore Threads, Huawei, and others. To stifle development here, the Biden administration is reportedly considering imposing a measure called the foreign direct product rule, which would allow it to place controls on the sale of any product that makes use of American tech. ®

Nvidia in works to make new AI chip for Chinese market

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is in the process of making a version of its new flagship AI chips for the Chinese market which would adhere to the current U.S. export curbs, Bloomberg News reported citing people with knowledge of the matter. In March, Nvidia introduced its Blackwell chip series, which is expected to see mass manufacturing later in this year. The Blackwell platform is available both an accelerator, the GB200 (which can go into existing H100 or H200 systems) and as a super-chip. Within the series, the B200 is 30 times faster than its previous version at some tasks, such as providing answers from chatbots. Nvidia will work with Inspur, one of its main distributor partners in China, on the launch and distribution of the chip which has been initially dubbed as B20, the report added. In 2022, the U.S. brought in curbs on export of advanced chips and related equipment to China from companies such as Nvidia (NVDA). Last year in October, the Biden administration updated its export restrictions which would curb the sale of chips that Nvidia made for the Chinese market, such as the A800 and H800 chips. The U.S. has also restricted Nvidia from selling the A100 and more powerful successors, including the H100, in China, as part of Washington's efforts aimed at hindering China's access to advanced semiconductor technology, used for AI. The tighter export U.S. controls has helped Chinese companies such as Huawei Technologies, and Tencent-backed Enflame make try to make a mark in the local market for advanced AI processors. However, in recent months, the U.S. Commerce Department's officials have pressured American chip equipment makers and their suppliers to stop selling to Huawei and to the Chinese company which makes Huawei chips. The move aims to jeopardize China's ability to make alternatives to Nvidia's AI chips. In March, it was reported that Nvidia was cutting the price of its most advanced chip it made for the Chinese market, H20, pricing it below a rival chip from Huawei. Sales of H20 began with a weak start earlier this year but now it is growing rapidly, report noted. The U.S. tech giant is on track to sell over 1 million H20 chips in China in 2024 worth over $12B, the report added citing an estimate from research group SemiAnalysis. The U.S. and its allies including the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea and Japan have all been tightening curbs on the Asian country's access to advanced semiconductor technology. Meanwhile, China has reportedly established a 344B yuan ($47.5B) investment fund to boost its semiconductor industry. Last week, semiconductor stocks slumped and lost nearly $500B in collective market after it was reported the U.S. government may impose further export curb controls on the industry and former President Trump questioned whether the U.S. should pay for Taiwan's defense.

Nvidia preparing version of new flaghip AI chip for Chinese market, sources say

By Fanny Potkin SINGAPORE - Nvidia is working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compatible with current U.S. export controls, three sources familiar with the matter said. The AI chip giant in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which is due to be mass produced later in the year. Within that series, the B200 is 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots.

Nvidia preparing version of new flagship AI chip for Chinese market, sources say

By Fanny Potkin SINGAPORE - Nvidia is working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compatible with current U.S. export controls, three sources familiar with the matter said. The AI chip giant in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which is due to be mass produced later in the year. Within that series, the B200 is 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots.

Nvidia is trying not to lose a key part of its China business

As the U.S. considers tougher trade restrictions to prevent advanced chip equipment from reaching China, U.S.-based chipmaker Nvidia is reportedly working on a version of its new artificial intelligence chips to comply with those rules. Nvidia is working on a version of its new Blackwell AI chips for the Chinese market, Reuters reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. The chipmaker will reportedly work with a local distribution partner, Inspur, to launch and sell the chip, tentatively called the "B20," in China. The B20 is expected to start shipping in the second quarter of 2025, a source told Reuters. Nvidia declined to comment. The chipmaker has three chips designed specifically to comply with U.S. export controls, including the H20, which it cut prices for amid weak sales to compete with chips from homegrown competitor Huawei. However, H20 sales are now growing, sources told Reuters. Nvidia is expected to sell more than one million of its H20 chips in China this year, worth around $12 billion, despite U.S. trade restrictions, the Financial Times reported, citing SemiAnalysis data. Nvidia's expected sales are almost double Huawei's sales expectations for its Ascend 910B chip, according to the data. Meanwhile, Nvidia's H20 chips could be at risk under further U.S. trade rules, Jeffries analysts said. When the U.S. does its annual review of U.S. semiconductor export controls in October, "it is highly likely that" the H20 will be banned for sale to China, Jeffries analysts wrote in a note. The ban could happen three ways: through a "product specific ban, lowering the computing power cap, and/or putting a cap on memory capacity," analysts wrote. The U.S. could also extend export controls on chips sold to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or extend the controls to overseas Chinese companies, although this would be harder to implement, according to analysts.

Nvidia Reportedly Developing A New Version Of Its Flagship AI Chip For Chinese Market Amid US Export Restrictions - NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Nvidia Corp. NVDA is reportedly in the process of creating a new AI chip, designed to comply with U.S. export controls, specifically for the Chinese market. What Happened: According to anonymous sources, Jensen Huang's Nvidia is teaming up with Inspur, a significant distribution partner in China, to launch and distribute the new chip, provisionally named "B20." The chip is a part of Nvidia's "Blackwell" series, launched in March, and is set to be mass-produced later this year, Reuters reported on Monday. The B200, a chip within the series, is said to be 30 times faster than its predecessor at certain tasks. This development follows Washington's decision to tighten its controls on semiconductor exports to China in 2023. Since then, Nvidia has created three chips specifically for the Chinese market. The new chip could enhance Nvidia's efforts to combat competition from Chinese tech giant Huawei and Tencent-backed startup Enflame. China contributed to roughly 17% of Nvidia's revenue in the year ending January, a decrease from 26% two years prior, due to U.S. sanctions. Despite a slow start, Nvidia's most advanced chip for China, the H20, is anticipated to sell over 1 million units this year, generating over $12 billion, as per research group SemiAnalysis. It is widely expected that the U.S. will continue to apply pressure on semiconductor-related export controls, with initial plans to impose restrictions around the most advanced AI Models. Nvidia has yet to respond to the queries sent by Benzinga. See Also: Days After Elon Musk Deemed University Of Tokyo's Idea 'Pointless,' Scientists Develop Smiling Robot With Living Skin Why It Matters: The development follows another report that revealed Google and Microsoft are providing Chinese companies access to Nvidia AI chips through data centers outside China, despite U.S. restrictions. This was seen as a workaround to the Biden administration's restrictions aimed at preventing Chinese firms from utilizing U.S. technology for artificial intelligence, particularly advanced semiconductors. In July, Nvidia was on track to sell $12 billion of artificial intelligence chips in China this year despite the U.S. export controls. Back in May, the Chinese government had urged its tech giants to reduce their reliance on foreign-made chips, particularly those from Nvidia, and increase their purchase of domestic AI chips. Price Action: As per Benzinga Pro, Nvidia closed at $117.93 on Friday. Read Next: Nvidia's Potential $50 Trillion Valuation, Tesla And xAI's AI Expansion Plans, And Microsoft's Trillion-Dollar Tech: This Week In Artificial Intelligence Image via Shutterstock This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Nvidia is reportedly making another China-focused AI chip as U.S. export controls hit its business in the world's second largest economy

The biggest beneficiary of the AI boom is still trying to figure how to sell its chips to China without running afoul of Washington's chip controls. Nvidia is working on a version of its new flagship AI chip for the China market, Reuters reports citing anonymous sources. The U.S. chip designer is reportedly working with Inspur, one of its major distributors in China, to help launch and sell the made-for-China version of its Blackwell series chip. Neither Nvidia nor Inspur immediately responded to Fortune's request for comment. The U.S. has controlled sales of Nvidia's AI chips to China since October 2022. Nvidia has tried to develop new chips that complies with U.S. regulations, only to run afoul of Washington tightening the screws further and Chinese customers wary of a less-powerful product. Before the U.S. imposed chip export controls, China used to contribute a quarter of Nvidia's data center revenue. Data center revenue aligns with the company's chip business. The company admitted in May that data center revenue in China is down significantly since Washington expanded chip controls in October 2023. Still, Nvidia is poised to sell over a million of its H20 chips, currently the most advanced chip available to the Chinese market, this year, according to research firm SemiAnalysis. The firm expects H20 sales to generate $12 billion in sales for the U.S. chip designer this year. (The company had $60.9 billion in revenue for its most recent fiscal year, which ended January 2024.) Nvidia unveiled its Blackwell chip series in March, with mass production set for later this year. The company claims the new platform will allow users to run real-time generative AI applications at significantly lower cost than its predecessors. The U.S. has shown no signs of letting up the pressure on semiconductor-related export control measures. Washington is reportedly pressuring the Netherlands and Japan to further restrict Chinese access to chipmaking equipment, including considering invoking a rule that would give it jurisdiction over any product that uses U.S. technology. Nvidia shares rose around 1.5% in pre-market trading on Monday. The company's shares dropped almost 10% last week following reports of the possibility of expanded controls, as well as former President Donald Trump's comments that the island of Taiwan, a chipmaking hub, should pay for its own defense.

Nvidia preparing a China-focused variant of its B200 Blackwell AI GPU to comply with US export regulations

Nvidia is preparing to release yet another China-focused GPU SKU, aimed at complying with the U.S. export regulations. Sources from Reuters reveal that Nvidia's latest GPU will be an offshoot of the Blackwell B200, Nvidia's fastest AI GPU to date. The GPU is expected to launch next year, but specifications remain an open question. Tentatively named the "B20", the new chip will be distributed throughout China by Inspur, one of Nvidia's major partners in the region. The B20 will reportedly make its official debut in Q2 of 2025. Specs are completely unknown at this time regarding the neutered Blackwell GPU, though it seems inevitable that the B20 will be an entry-level part -- a stark contrast to the B200 with its industry-leading AI performance. The U.S. has strict performance regulations for China GPU exports, using a metric dubbed "Total Processing Power" (TPP), which takes into account the amount of TFLOPS and precision of a GPU's compute capabilities. Specifically, multiply the TFLOPS (without sparsity) by the precision in bits to get TPP. The current limit is set at 4,800 TPP. For reference, the Hopper H100 and H200 far exceed that mark, with 16,000 TPP on both GPUs -- the metric doesn't directly account for memory bandwidth or capacity, which are the chief improvements that H200 brings to the table. Even the RTX 4090 passes the limit with its 660.6 TFLOPS of FP8 compute. The most powerful Nvidia desktop GPU that stays within the 4,800 TPP limit is the RTX 4090D, which was built specifically to comply with export restrictions. Blackwell raises the bar on compute performance, with a dual-die solution potentially spitting out around 4,500 TFLOPS of FP8 compute. That would make it 7.5 times the allowed limit. Even the lesser B100 will deliver 3.5 PFLOPS of dense FP8 compute, or 28,000 TPP. The B20 also faces additional restrictions since the U.S. also enforces a "performance density" (PD) restriction targeted specifically at datacenter GPUs (consumer GPUs are exempt from this restriction). Take the TPP score and divide it by the die size to get the PD metric; anything above 6.0 gets restricted. Using that metric, every RTX 40-series GPU would be restricted for data center use, and Blackwell should improve over the density and performance of Ada Lovelace. So, Nvidia will need to severely curtail the B20 performance and/or use a proportionately larger die in order to comply with the regulations. (We still don't know the exact die size of the already announced B200.) We expect the B20 to be a successor to Nvidia's A30 and H20 entry-level AI GPUs. The H20 as an example offers just 296 TFLOPS of FP16, compared to 1,979 TFLOPS on the H100/H200. That's a TPP of 2,368, in order to keep PD below 6.0 -- it has a PD rating of just 2.90. The A30 meanwhile has a TPP rating of 2,640 and a PD score of 3.20. So there's room for Nvidia to create a faster AI GPU for China... just not too much faster. We can't help but think the B20 will be a difficult chip to sell. Both Ampere and Hopper are already beyond the performance limit, so Nvidia created China-specific SKUs to comply with regulations. All of the advancements in the Blackwell architecture push it even further into non-compliance, as the maximum TPP hasn't changed, which means rolling back performance to stay compliant. Best-case? Nvidia would be looking to create a GPU with perhaps 4,000-4,500 TPP and an 800 mm^2 die size.

NVIDIA has its AI GPU ready, which can be sold in China in compliance with legislation - Softonic

NVIDIA is working on a new AI GPU exclusively for China, the B20, based on its Blackwell GPU architecture At the 2024 Nvidia Developer Conference (GTC), NVIDIA unveiled its next-generation artificial intelligence GPU architecture, Blackwell. It was showcased in various forms, most notably in two chips. The two main chips of the Blackwell platforms are the B100 and the B200, with powerful specifications aimed at AI solutions. As previously announced, the first Blackwell solutions will be available in the second half of this year and the demand is sky-high, but it seems that Jensen Huang's team also plans to offer a variant compatible with US exports to China based on the same GPU architecture. Recently, it was reported that NVIDIA's H20 AI accelerator, based on the Hopper architecture, was having a positive response in the Chinese market after an initial unsuccessful launch. This was due to Huawei's inability to meet the high demand for AI in the domestic market, which led AI customers to seek an easily available solution in the form of H20. The recent demand for these AI accelerators is expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue for NVIDIA, based on a variant with reduced specifications of the original design to meet the TPP requirements established by US authorities. According to Reuters, NVIDIA is working on a new variant exclusively for China based on the new Blackwell GPU architecture. This accelerator will be the successor to the H20 and will be known as the B20. Various media platforms have been able to confirm this with not just one, but with three individual sources. The arrival of NVIDIA's Blackwell AI accelerators in China will be a massive business opportunity for the country. Its national companies, such as Huawei and Tencent, will face even greater competition instead of dominating the market, since they are currently the only providers of high-end AI in the country due to the restrictions imposed on NVIDIA. The export-compatible offers from NVIDIA will shake things up even more, as H20 has surpassed one million sales in China this year and has generated over $12 billion in revenue.

How Nvidia may solve China's AI chip problem with the US - Times of India

Nvidia is reportedly developing a modified version of its flagship AI chip specifically for the Chinese market. The move comes as the US chipmaker seeks to maintain its presence in China while complying with stringent US export controls. Citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, news agency Reuters reported Nvidia will work with Inspur on the launch and distribution of the chip.Inspur is one of the American chipmaker's major distributor partners in China. In March, Nvidia unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series and the B200 model is said to be 30 times speedier than its predecessor at some tasks like serving up answers from chatbots. The report said that the chip for the chinese market is tentatively named the "B20". The "Blackwell" chip series will go into mass production later this year. They combine two squares of silicon the size of the company's previous offering. The report also highlighted that this version of the Blackwell series chip is likely to boost Nvidia's efforts to fend off those challenges. US sanctions on Nvidia In an effort to curb China's advancements in supercomputing and potential military applications, the US imposed stricter export controls on AI semiconductors in 2023. This move spurred Nvidia to develop three chips specifically designed for the Chinese market. One of the chips that Nvidia began shipping products like its reduced-performance H800 chips to China in line with the regulations. However, further restrictions in October 2023 prohibited the export of these items as well. However, these tighter restrictions also created opportunities for domestic Chinese players like Huawei and Tencent-backed Enflame to expand their foothold in the advanced AI processor market. China is an important market for Nvidia as the country accounted for about 17% of Nvidia's revenue in the year to end-January in the wake of US sanctions, sliding from 26% two years earlier. Notably, Nvidia previously held roughly 90% of China's AI semiconductor market (as per a report by Nikkei Asia). The TOI Tech Desk is a dedicated team of journalists committed to delivering the latest and most relevant news from the world of technology to readers of The Times of India. TOI Tech Desk's news coverage spans a wide spectrum across gadget launches, gadget reviews, trends, in-depth analysis, exclusive reports and breaking stories that impact technology and the digital universe. Be it how-tos or the latest happenings in AI, cybersecurity, personal gadgets, platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and more; TOI Tech Desk brings the news with accuracy and authenticity.

Nvidia developing flagship AI chip for Chinese market- Reuters By Investing.com

Investing.com-- NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is developing a version of its flagship artificial intelligence chips for Chinese markets that will fall in line with U.S. export restrictions, Reuters reported on Monday. The world's most valuable chipmaker will work with Inspur, one of its biggest distributors in China, on a chip tentatively called the "B20," the Reuters report said. Nvidia's current AI offerings are China are geared specifically towards falling in line with U.S. export restrictions on China. But recent reports suggested that its offerings in the country, such as the H20, were seeing weak demand amid heavy competition from local chipmakers, specifically Huawei. The chipmaker had in March unveiled its "Blackwell" chip series, which are set for production later in 2024. The line of chips is geared specifically towards meeting the computational requirements of large language models, and comes as interest in the fast-growing field grew substantially over the past year. Increased interest in AI development also sparked a revenue bonanza for Nvidia, boosting the company's valuation to make it among the most valuable companies on Wall Street. Nvidia did not respond to a mailed request for comment.