Clearly that NVIDIA is producing a new chip 'A800' that can avoid export restrictions in China

by htomari

As part of America's efforts to disrupt China's semiconductor industry and military activities, the Biden administration announced broad export controls to China in October 2022. NVIDIA, which was strongly affected by this regulation, is reported to produce a new chip 'A800' for China that clears the standards of export restrictions and to provide it in China.

Exclusive: Nvidia offers new advanced chip for China that meets US export controls | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-nvidia-offers-new-advanced-chip-china-that-meets-us-export-controls-2022-11-08/

Nvidia Offers Alternative Chip for China to Clear US Export Hurdles - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/nvidia-offers-alternative-chip-for-china-to-clear-us-export-hurdles-11667891718

In an announcement at the end of August 2022, NVIDIA reported that new requirements were imposed on the export of NVIDIA's advanced AI development and data center chips ' A100 ' and 'H100' to China and Russia. did. This regulation is not limited to specific products, but targets those whose chip performance exceeds a certain threshold. If NVIDIA wants to offer these chips to Chinese customers, it will need a license issued by the government, but there is no guarantee that a license will be issued, and it may take some time to issue. thing.

The US government orders NVIDIA and AMD to ``restrict export of AI chips to China'' - GIGAZINE

In response to this export restriction, NVIDIA has newly produced an advanced chip 'A800' for China that complies with US trade rules and has begun to advertise products such as computers equipped with A800. ``The NVIDIA A800 GPU, which began production in the third quarter of 2022, will replace the NVIDIA A100 GPU for Chinese customers,'' an NVIDIA spokesperson told Reuters. It cannot be programmed to meet or exceed the government's explicit tests.'

According to the information posted by the Chinese distributor, the A800's product specifications have not changed from the A100 in terms of computational performance and memory specifications, but the data transfer rate between chips has been reduced to 400GB per second. It is said that there is. The A100 has a transfer rate of 600 GB per second, and the US regulatory standards limit speeds above 600 GB per second, so the A800 is a quality downgraded model to avoid the regulatory standards.

NVIDIA's recent financial report reveals that about a quarter of its sales are from China and Taiwan, and that NVIDIA expects to lose $400 million (about 57 billion yen) in sales due to export restrictions. to The A800, which avoids regulations, is an attempt to correct this economic loss, and sales of products equipped with the A800 are expected to start in China as early as mid-November.