Nvidia plans to release a new artificial intelligence chipset for China that will be cheaper than its recently restricted H20 model.
According to multiple sources, Nvidia will start mass production as early as June and the GPU or graphics processing unit will be part of Nvidia's latest generation of Blackwell-architecture AI processors.
Nvidia AI chips price (expected)
The expected price of Nvidia’s Blackwell AI chips will be between $6,500 and $8,000, well below the $10,000-$12,000 the H20 sold for, according to two of the sources.
The lower price reflects its weaker specifications and simpler manufacturing requirements.
Reuters reported that it will be based on Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D, a server-class graphics processor and will use conventional GDDR7 memory instead of more advanced high bandwidth memory.
An Nvidia spokesperson said the company was still evaluating its "limited" options.
"Until we settle on a new product design and receive approval from the U.S. government, we are effectively foreclosed from China's $50 billion data centre market."
Earlier last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that the company's older Hopper architecture - which the H20 uses - can no longer accommodate further modifications under current US export restrictions.
According to two of the sources, Nvidia is also developing another Blackwell-architecture chip for China that is set to begin production as early as September.
This move is particularly helpful for AI workloads that need extensive data processing.
