• Nvidia plans to begin mass production of a new, lower-cost Blackwell-based AI chip for China by June, priced between $6,500 and $8,000.
  • The new GPU will use standard GDDR7 memory and be built on the RTX Pro 6000D platform, avoiding advanced technologies like CoWoS packaging to comply with U.S. export restrictions.

Nvidia plans to begin mass production of the lower-cost Blackwell AI chip by June. It will introduce a new artificial intelligence chipset for China at a price point substantially cheaper than its recently restricted H20 model.

Sources say the GPU, or graphics processing unit, will be a component of Nvidia's most recent generation Blackwell-architecture AI processors and is anticipated to cost between $6,500 and $8,000, which is significantly less than the $10,000–$12,000 the H20 sold for.

It will employ standard GDDR7 memory rather than more sophisticated high-bandwidth memory and be built on top of Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D, a server-class graphics engine.

They also stated that it would not employ the cutting-edge Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (2330.TW), which opens a new tab.

The cost, features, and manufacturing schedule of the new chip have not yet been made public.

With 13% of its revenue in the most recent fiscal year, China continues to be a significant market for Nvidia. This is the third time that Nvidia has had to modify a GPU for the second-biggest economy in the world due to limitations imposed by American officials who are eager to impede Chinese technology advancement.

According to insiders, Nvidia first thought about creating a reduced version of the H20 for China when the U.S. effectively banned it in April, but that plan didn't pan out.

Last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that the company's older Hopper architecture, which powers the H20, is no longer adaptable to new changes due to existing export limitations in the United States.

Although it did not reveal price or provide references, Chinese brokerage GF Securities stated in a note released on Tuesday that the new GPU would probably be referred to as the 6000D or the B40.

Nvidia is also working on a different Blackwell-architecture processor for China, with production starting as early as September, as per the insiders.

Huang said that Nvidia's market share in China has fallen from 95% before 2022, when U.S. export restrictions that affected its products started, to 50% at this time. Huawei (HWT.UL), the manufacturer of the Ascend 910B chip, is its primary rival.

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah