In response to the US government’s strict export restrictions, it was reported that Nvidia is developing a new AI chip ‘B20’ for the Chinese market.
🟦 What is Nvidia’s new AI chip “B20”?
It is reported that Nvidia is developing a new AI chip called ‘B20’ for the Chinese market. The B20 is based on the Blackwell architecture announced in March 2024 and offers nearly twice the performance improvement over the existing H20 chip. The new chip is expected to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025.
🟦 Why is Nvidia developing a new AI chip?
The U.S. government is concerned about the possibility that high-performance semiconductors may be diverted to military use by the Chinese government, and has severely restricted the export of high-performance chips to China to Nvidia and AMD. For this reason, Nvidia needs to develop chips with reduced performance for the Chinese market. The B20 was designed to circumvent this export control measure and is an important step towards regaining its share in the Chinese market.
🟦Summary
Nvidia is developing a new AI chip “B20” for the Chinese market to comply with the strict export controls of the US government. The chip is more powerful than the existing H20 and is expected to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025. Through this new chip, Nvidia aims to regain its lost share of the Chinese market.
We made a version with reduced performance to circumvent the regulations, but this could also get caught by the regulations again. It’s like a cat-and-mouse game, isn’t it?
