[News] NVIDIA Reportedly Prepares Toned-down Version for H20, Set for July Release

With CEO Jensen Huang calling it a “tremendous loss” to be blocked from China’s AI market, NVIDIA is gearing up to launch a toned-down version of its H20 AI chip for China as early as July, according to Reuters.

The report says Team Green has already given major Chinese cloud providers a heads-up about the upcoming launch. The revamped chip, shaped by newly set technical limits, is expected to come with significant downgrades—most notably in memory capacity, the report adds.

Another source told Reuters that downstream customers might tweak the module setup to fine-tune the chip’s performance despite the downgrade.

Speculation has swirled for quite a while over whether NVIDIA would roll out a revamped H20 for China. Back in April, the chip giant said it would take a $5.5 billion hit after U.S. export curbs blocked H20 shipments. According to a Reuters report in April, NVIDIA had accumulated $18 billion worth of H20 orders since January.

In an interview with CNBC, NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang said China’s AI market could soar to around $50 billion within the next few years—and missing out would be a “tremendous loss.” As per Reuters, China generated $17 billion for the U.S. chip giant in the fiscal year ending January 26, making up 13% of its total revenue.

A couple of days ago, The Information revealed that NVIDIA has notified key Chinese customers—including Alibaba, ByteDance and Tencent—that it is redesigning its AI chips to comply with U.S. export rules. The company reportedly told clients that samples of the new chip could be ready as early as June.

H20 Shipment Creates Uncertainty for South Korean Memory Giants

On the other hand, rising HBM demand is now overshadowed by concerns that NVIDIA’s AI chip orders might take a hit due to the latest U.S. export curbs on China. However, South Korea’s Digital Times reports that NVIDIA is sticking with its HBM3 memory supply—used in the H20—from Samsung and SK hynix for now, with orders remaining unchanged.

According to Chosun Biz, the H20 chip stockpile could become a major headache for South Korean semiconductor firms. The report highlights that each H20 chip is powered by six HBM modules, nearly all of which are supplied by SK hynix and Samsung. While Samsung doesn’t provide HBM for NVIDIA’s advanced AI accelerators like the H100 and Blackwell, it does supply it for the H20, the report adds.

Read more

• [News] NVIDIA Reportedly Developing New Chip for China After H20 Restrictions, with Samples Expected by June
• [News] NVIDIA Reportedly Takes $5.5B Charge Over U.S. H20 Sales Restrictions, Risks $18B Revenue Loss in 2025

(Photo credit: NVIDIA)