Report: NVIDIA Developing New Blackwell-Based AI Chip for China

NVIDIA is reportedly working on a new China-specific AI chip that will be more powerful than the aging HGX H20 model the company is currently authorized to sell in China.

Recent reports suggest that the H20 – originally developed as a scaled-down alternative to the A100 and H100 that were banned from export to China – is nearing the end of its production run. Its successor: the tentatively named B30A chip.

Based on the latest Blackwell architecture, the B30A will feature a single-die design delivering roughly half the raw computing power of NVIDIA's flagship B300 accelerator, according to sources. The new chip will include high-bandwidth memory and NVLink support for fast data transfer between processors – both of which are also present in the Hopper-based H20.

NVIDIA aims to send test batches of the B30A chip to Chinese customers as early as sometime this month, sources said.

The move comes following remarks from President Donald Trump suggesting that more advanced NVIDIA chips could be cleared for sale in China. However, regulatory approval remains uncertain. There are ongoing concerns about granting China broader access to U.S. AI technology – which could weaken the United States' competitive edge in the sector.

At the same time, analysts warn that restricting China too heavily risks driving developers toward rivals like Huawei. NVIDIA argues that it's important to retain market share in China – which generated 13% of the company's revenue in the past year – so that its software ecosystem stays relevant in one of the world's largest AI markets.

NVIDIA is also preparing a second Blackwell-based China-specific chip called the RTX6000D, designed primarily for AI inference tasks, which is expected to start shipping this month. With weaker specs than the H20 and bandwidth just under U.S. export limits, it's set to be a compliant, lower-cost alternative within NVIDIA's lineup.

For those outside China, however, these region-specific models highlight the stark difference between scaled-down chips and the unrestricted performance available elsewhere.

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