Nvidia Corp, a U.S. chipmaker, confirmed on Monday that it is offering a new advanced chip in China that complies with recent export control rules aimed at keeping cutting-edge technology out of China’s hands.
Nvidia responded to Reuters’ report that Chinese computer retailers are advertising products that include the new chip.
The A800 chip is the first reported effort by a US semiconductor company to develop advanced processors for China that comply with new US trade rules. According to Nvidia, the export restrictions could cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
US regulations enacted in early October effectively prohibited Chinese chipmakers from exporting advanced microchips and equipment used to manufacture advanced chips, as part of an effort to stymie China’s semiconductor industry and, by extension, the military.
Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc both announced in late August that the US Commerce Department had added their advanced chips, including Nvidia’s data centre chip A100, to the export control list. Both the Nvidia A800 and the Nvidia A100 are GPUs, or graphics processing units.
These high-tech chips can cost thousands of dollars each.
“The Nvidia A800 GPU, which went into production in Q3, is another option for Chinese customers in addition to the Nvidia A100 GPU.” The A800 “satisfies the United States Government’s clear test for reduced export control and cannot be programmed to exceed it,” an Nvidia spokesperson told Reuters.
Nvidia declined to comment on whether the new chip was discussed with the Commerce Department. A spokesperson for the Commerce Department declined to comment.
At least two major server manufacturers’ Chinese websites offer the A800 chip in their products. The A100 chip had previously been used in promotional material for one of those products.
The A800’s specifications were detailed on a distributor website in China. When compared to the A100, the chip-to-chip data transfer rate on the new chip is 400 gigabytes per second, down from 600 gigabytes per second on the A100. The new rules limit data rates to 600 gigabytes per second and higher.
“The A800 appears to be a repackaged A100 GPU designed to avoid the recent Commerce Department trade restrictions,” said Wayne Lam, an analyst at CCS Insight, based on the specs shared by Reuters and noting that the number eight is considered lucky in China.
“China is an important market for Nvidia, and it makes good business sense to reconfigure your product to avoid trade restrictions,” Lam explained.
According to Lam, the A800’s chip-to-chip communications capabilities represent a clear performance downgrade in a data centre where thousands of chips are used together.
Inspur and H3C, two major Chinese server manufacturers that offer servers with the new chips, did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did OmniSky, which posted the A800 specifications online.
Nvidia has stated that high-end chip sales to China could cost the company $400 million in its fiscal third quarter, which ended in October. A replacement chip could help to mitigate the financial impact. On November 16, the company will release its quarterly results.
