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SHANGHAI, Nov 9 (Portal) – Nvidia plans to release three new chips for China, local media reported on Thursday, weeks after the U.S. stopped selling two high-end artificial intelligence (AI) chips and one of its top Gaming chips had been blocked to Chinese companies.
News agency STAR Market Daily, citing people familiar with the matter, said that the chips are called HGX H20, L20 PCIe and L2 PCIe and that Nvidia could unveil them no earlier than November 16.
Nvidia declined to comment when asked about the report.
Last month, the US AI chip giant said new export restrictions announced by Washington would prevent it from selling two of its modified advanced AI chips – the A800 and H800 – both developed last year for the Chinese market to comply with previous export rules.
One of the company’s top gaming chips, the L40S chip announced in August, was also affected, it said.
On October 24, Nvidia announced that these restrictions would take effect immediately, as US regulators had accelerated an original deadline.
Nvidia has more than 90% share of China’s $7 billion AI chip market, and analysts say the U.S. restrictions will likely create opportunities for domestic companies like Huawei Technologies to gain a foothold.
According to sources, Chinese internet giant Baidu placed a large order for Huawei AI chips this year. One said Baidu did so before the U.S. restrictions were announced as it prepared for a future in which it would no longer be able to buy from Nvidia.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Edwina Gibbs)