Nvidia launches new gaming chip for China to comply with US export controls
US CHIPMAKER Nvidia on Thursday (Dec 28) launched a modified version of an advanced gaming chip designed to comply with US export controls targeting China.
The chip, which the company says offers a “quantum leap in performance, efficiency and artificial intelligence-driven graphics”, will be available to Chinese customers starting in January, a Nvidia spokesperson said.
“The GeForce RTX 4090 D has been designed to fully comply with US government export controls. While developing this product, we extensively engaged with the US government,” the spokesperson added.
The GeForce RTX 4090 D marks the first China-focused chip Nvidia has officially launched since new export rules were unveiled by the Biden administration in October.
Those rules meant that two modified artificial intelligence (AI) chips Nvidia had created for the Chinese market to comply with previous export rules, the A800 and H800, were blocked for sale, as well as a top-of-the-line gaming chip, the RTX 4090.
Chip industry newsletter SemiAnalysis said in early November that Nvidia, in response to the October export rules, could announce three new AI chips aimed at the Chinese market as soon as Nov 16.
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However, Reuters reported late last month that Nvidia had told customers in China it was delaying the launch of one of those chips until the first quarter of next year. The remaining two have not yet appeared on Nvidia’s China website.
Nvidia has commanded a more than 90 per cent share of China’s US$7 billion AI chip market, and analysts have said the US curbs are likely to create opportunities for domestic firms such as Huawei Technologies to make inroads.
US Commerce Secretary Raimondo, in an interview on Dec 11, said that Nvidia can sell AI chips to China, just not those with the highest processing power.
Compared to the banned RTX 4090, the China-focused RTX 4090 D is “5 per cent slower in gaming and creating”, according to the Nvidia spokesperson.
The China-focused RTX 4090 D will cost 12,999 yuan (S$2,479), which is 350 yuan more than the second-most advanced chip in the product series available to Chinese customers.
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