Nvidia has prepared a powerful Blackwell AI chip after U.S. restrictions

Nvidia plans to release a new artificial intelligence (AI) chip for the Chinese market at a significantly lower price point compared to the recently introduced H20 model. Mass production of the new GPU, based on the Blackwell architecture, will begin as early as June, sources said.

Nvidia is planning to launch the new AI chip for the Chinese market at a significantly lower price point.

The new GPU is designed for AI tasks and will cost about $6,500 to $8,000 — significantly cheaper than the H20, which cost $10,000 to $12,000. The lower price is due to lower specifications and simplified manufacturing requirements.

Sources say the new chip is based on Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D server GPU and uses standard GDDR7 memory instead of the more advanced HBM. TSMC’s CoWoS packaging technology is not involved in the production, which also reduces the cost.

The new chip is based on Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D server GPU and uses standard GDDR memory instead of advanced HBM.

No details about the cost, timing or features of this product have been previously released. Three sources declined to name names due to confidentiality.

A spokesman for Nvidia said the company is still evaluating the possibilities.

“Until we have settled on a design and received U.S. government approval, participation in China’s roughly $50 billion data center market remains in doubt,” he said.

China remains an important market for Nvidia, with the country accounting for about 13 percent of sales last year. This is the third time Nvidia has been forced to adapt products due to US restrictions aimed at slowing China’s technological development.

The expectation is that the new GPU, although it has less processing power than the H20, will be able to remain competitive. The main rival in China remains Huawei with the Ascend 910B.

Another important point is the decline in Nvidia’s market share in China: from 95% in 2022 after the restrictions, it has dropped to about 50%, the company’s CEO Jensen Huang said during a visit to Taipei.

Sources say Nvidia is developing another Blackwell architecture chip for China; it is scheduled for production in September. Specs have not yet been disclosed.

Sources said Nvidia is developing another Blackwell chip for China, with production scheduled for September.

After banning exports of the H20 in April, the company considered creating a simplified version for China, but that plan was canceled. Huang said, “The Hopper architecture is outdated and no longer fits the current U.S. export restrictions.”

The final name of the new GPU has not yet been revealed; it is expected to be released as early as June. Chinese brokerage GF Securities suggests a possible name is the B40 or 6000D series, but exact pricing and specifications are not yet available.

The H20 ban forced Nvidia to write down about $5.5 billion worth of inventory; the company also reported about $15 billion in sales cuts due to the new restrictions. Specifically, the restrictions relate to memory bandwidth, a key measure of the speed of data transfer between processor and memory. This is especially important for data-intensive AI tasks.

Material Nvidia prepares powerful Blackwell AI chip after U.S. restrictions was first published on ITZine.ru.