What is known

Last year, the US government told NVIDIA it would limit its exports to Russia and China over concerns that computer chips designed for supercomputers and artificial intelligence could be used for military purposes. This prevented certain chips (A100 and H100) from being sold in sanctioned countries, so the company developed the A800 and H800 specifically for the Chinese market.

Shortly thereafter, the United States issued an updated set of restrictions that placed limits on the processing power of a chip intended for export to the above-mentioned countries. Under the new rules, the A800 and H800 are no longer eligible for export, as are other NVIDIA products, including the top-end RTX 4090 GPU.

Reportedly NVIDIA is now developing three new China-specific AI chipsWhich does not conflict with the latest export restrictions in the US. According to the specifications sent to distributors, they are called HGX H20, L20 and L2. While the H20 is considered the most powerful model of the three, it doesn’t even exceed the processing power threshold set by the US government’s new export regulations. This means customers using them for AI may need more chips at once, even if they have access to more powerful models.

Including Chinese companies Baidu, Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo have already started developing their own semiconductorsTo prepare for a possible future where they will no longer be able to import chips from the US and other countries. But long-time NVIDIA customers may prefer this company’s components because of its reputation and software, which is one of the most reliable software for AI development today.

According to The Wall Street Journal and Reuters sources, NVIDIA may already announce new chips 16 November and start selling by the end of the year.