compliant with US regulations, enters production soon

NVIDIA is reportedly working on a different version of its flagship Blackwell AI GPUs for the Chinese market that would adhere to strict US export controls. That new AI GPU would be the B20 AI GPU.

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NVIDIA unveiled its fleet of Blackwell B100, B200, and GB200 AI chips earlier this year, with B200 being over 30x faster in some AI workloads than Hopper H100, but they’re far too powerful to be allowed into China. However, a cut-down B20 AI GPU is reportedly in the works, which sticks under the metrics of US export regulations and is destined for China in Q2 2025.

In a new report from Reuters, we’re learning that NVIDIA is reportedly preparing the B20 AI GPU for China. Their sources declined to be identified as NVIDIA has “yet to make a public statement.” A spokesperson for NVIDIA declined to comment, too.

NVIDIA has already crafted cut-down versions of its AI GPUs to meet the US export controls into China, with the tweaked H20, L20, and L2 AI chips. The new Blackwell GPU architecture is the biggest step yet towards utter AI dominance by NVIDIA, and China won’t miss out (entirely) on Blackwell, with the tweaked B20 AI GPU coming in 2025.

The tightening of US export regulations has seen Chinese technology giant Huawei and startups like Tencent-based Enflame to “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 ef forts to fend off those challenges”, added Reuters.

Two years ago, China represented around 26% of NVIDIA’s revenue, while year to end-January post-US sanctions, NVIDIA’s revenue from China slipped down to around 17%. NVIDIA’s tweaked H20 AI GPU for China didn’t launch to big numbers, but sales are now “growing rapidly” according to Reuters’ sources.

According to research by SemiAnalysis, NVIDIA is on track to sell over 1 million H20 AI GPUs to China this year, worth around $12 billion. NVIDIA doesn’t want to give up billions of dollars per year from China, nor does it want domestic companies to get in on its turf.