NVIDIA is reportedly developing a new China-exclusive AI GPU, the B20, based on its next-generation Blackwell GPU architecture.
NVIDIA brings the power of Blackwell’s AI to China with B20 accelerator, expected to go into mass production in late 2024
At GTC 2024, NVIDIA unveiled its next-generation Blackwell AI GPU architecture which will be offered in various forms. The two main chips powering the Blackwell platform are the B100 and B200, with powerful specifications primed for AI solutions. The first Blackwell solutions will be available soon later this year and demand is very high, but it seems the green team is also aiming to bring a US export compliant variant to China as well, based on the same GPU architecture.
Recently, it was reported that NVIDIA’s H20 AI accelerators based on the Hopper architecture are receiving positive response in the Chinese market after a lackluster initial launch. This is because Huawei was unable to keep up with the huge AI demand in the domestic market, leading AI customers to turn to an off-the-shelf solution in the form of the H20. The recent demand for these AI accelerators is expected to bring billions of dollars in revenue to NVIDIA, due to a variant with reduced specifications from the original design to meet the TPP requirements set by US authorities.
According to Reuters, NVIDIA is currently developing a new China-only variant based on its new Blackwell GPU architecture. The accelerator will be the successor to the H20 and will be known as the B20. Reuters was able to confirm this from not one, but three separate sources. NVIDIA is said to be partnering with Inspur, which will be primarily responsible for the launch and distribution of the B20 AI accelerator in China.
The introduction of NVIDIA’s Blackwell AI accelerators in China will be a big deal for China because since the restrictions on NVIDIA, domestic companies like Huawei and Tencent, who are the only high-end AI providers in China, will face more competition instead of being given a free rein. NVIDIA’s export-compliant products will shake things up even more, as H20 has already done. H20 expects to sell more than 1 million units and earn more than $12 billion in revenue in China by the end of this year.
The new Blackwell B20 AI accelerator will need to be heavily tuned to meet the TPP (Total Processing Performance) requirements of US authorities. The B20 will not be the only export-compliant Blackwell GPU to hit the market. Recent rumors suggest that NVIDIA is also working on a new flagship gaming graphics card, the RTX 5090D, which will be designed for the Chinese market and will be the successor to the RTX 4090D, the first consumer-grade export-compliant graphics card.
