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Smart Things
Compiled by Meng Qiang
Edited by Yunpeng

According to a Reuters report on July 22, Nvidia is developing a new flagship AI chip for the Chinese market, and the chip will not violate current US export controls on China, three people familiar with the matter said.

It is reported that NVIDIA launched the Blackwell GPU architecture in March, including the B100, B200 and GB200 super chips. Among them, the B200 is the highlight, integrating two dies, and the GB200 further combines the B200 with a 72-core Grace CPU. This series of chips will be mass-produced in the second half of this year.

According to Reuters, two sources said Nvidia will work with Inspur Group, one of its main distribution partners in China, to launch and distribute a chip tentatively named "B20."

In 2023, the Biden administration tightened controls on China's exports of cutting-edge semiconductors, attempting to prevent China from making breakthroughs in the chip field under the pretext of maintaining "national security." After that, Nvidia developed three chips specifically for the Chinese market within the regulatory framework, wanting to serve the Chinese market to the maximum extent without violating regulations, including the H20. In order not to violate the US ban, the performance of the H20 was significantly reduced compared to Nvidia's top chip, the H100.

Affected by US sanctions, the Chinese market accounted for about 17% of Nvidia's total revenue from the end of January 2023 to the end of January 2024, down from 26% two years ago. According to a Reuters report in May, the H20 chip performed poorly when it began to be delivered this year. But two sources said that sales are now growing rapidly. According to estimates by research firm Semi Analysis, Nvidia is expected to sell more than 1 million H20 chips in China this year, worth more than $12 billion.

However, the market expects the United States to continue to strengthen semiconductor-related export controls to China. Sources said the United States hopes that the Netherlands and Japan will further restrict the supply of chip manufacturing equipment to China. According to sources, the Biden administration also has preliminary plans to set guardrails for the most advanced AI models such as ChatGPT.

At present, it remains to be seen whether the B20 chip can help Nvidia regain confidence in the Chinese market under increasingly tightened control measures.

Source: Reuters