According to Reuters, NVIDIA plans to launch new artificial intelligence chips for the Chinese market, less than a month after the US authorities tightened the rules regarding the sale of advanced artificial intelligence chips to China.
Nvidia's new chips, called HGX H20, L20 PCIe and L2 PCIe, could be announced as early as November 16, according to chip industry newsletter SemiAnalation.
According to an analysis published by Chip Specifications Newsletter, the chips include most of Nvidia's latest AI-related features while reducing some processing power measures to comply with new US regulations.
The US AI chip giant said last month that new export restrictions announced by Washington prevented it from selling advanced and modified A800 and H800 AI chips designed for the Chinese market, especially to comply with previous export rules.
Nvidia, whose graphics processing units dominate the AI market, gets about a quarter of its data center chip sales from China.
The new rules impose an upper limit on the computing power a chip can contain. The rules also include what analysts call a “gray zone” in which chips can be exported to China, even if a license is required.
“All of Nvidia's chips appear to be below the absolute upper bound for computing power, and one of them appears to be in a gray area and requires licensing,” Aaron Ruckers, an analyst at Wells Fargo, wrote in a note to clients.
“The launch of the three new GPUs is positive, although investors are expected to criticize Nvidia for overstepping US restrictions too aggressively, which could lead to further action by the US government,” Rakers added.
“The RTX 4090 gaming chipset is affected by the new rules that take effect immediately, and US regulators have accelerated the original deadline,” Nvidia said on October 24.
The company already controls more than 90% of China's $7 billion AI chip market, and analysts say US restrictions could create opportunities for local companies like Huawei to enter the market.