Exclusive: US H20 ban ends Nvidia's Hopper series in China, opens $50B market to rivals, company tells GT
"While we continue to evaluate our options, the H20 ban ended our Hopper datacenter series line in China — we are not able to change the Hopper design to sell to China. With the ban on H20, our competitors in China are now largely shielded from US competition and free to leverage that entire $50B market to build a strong AI ecosystem," a spokesperson from the company told the Global Times on Monday.
The remark comes in response to Global Times' inquiry on Sunday to confirm whether NVIDIA can still sell the H20 chip to the Chinese market. This follows a Reuters report stating that Nvidia is evaluating how to address the China market after the US government placed limits on sales of its Hopper H20 chip there but will not put out another version from the Hopper series, citing the remarks of CEO Jensen Huang on Saturday.
Asked what the company's next chip for China after the H20 was, Huang said: "It's not Hopper because it's not possible to modify Hopper anymore," Huang said, according to the Reuters report.
The H20, which had been Nvidia's most powerful AI chip cleared for Chinese sales, was effectively blocked from the market after US officials informed the company last month that the product would require an export license. The H20 was introduced after Washington tightened export controls in October 2023, the Reuters reported.
The Nvidia CEO has repeatedly said that China is critical to the company's growth. China generated $17 billion in revenue for Nvidia in the fiscal year ending January 26, accounting for 13 percent of the company's total sales, according to the Reuters.
Jensen Huang said on May 6 that China's artificial intelligence market will likely reach about $50 billion in the next two to three years, and that missing out on it would be a "tremendous loss," reported CNBC on May 6.
The remark comes in response to Global Times' inquiry on Sunday to confirm whether NVIDIA can still sell the H20 chip to the Chinese market. This follows a Reuters report stating that Nvidia is evaluating how to address the China market after the US government placed limits on sales of its Hopper H20 chip there but will not put out another version from the Hopper series, citing the remarks of CEO Jensen Huang on Saturday.
Asked what the company's next chip for China after the H20 was, Huang said: "It's not Hopper because it's not possible to modify Hopper anymore," Huang said, according to the Reuters report.
The H20, which had been Nvidia's most powerful AI chip cleared for Chinese sales, was effectively blocked from the market after US officials informed the company last month that the product would require an export license. The H20 was introduced after Washington tightened export controls in October 2023, the Reuters reported.
The Nvidia CEO has repeatedly said that China is critical to the company's growth. China generated $17 billion in revenue for Nvidia in the fiscal year ending January 26, accounting for 13 percent of the company's total sales, according to the Reuters.
Jensen Huang said on May 6 that China's artificial intelligence market will likely reach about $50 billion in the next two to three years, and that missing out on it would be a "tremendous loss," reported CNBC on May 6.
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