Nvidia is preparing to release a new artificial intelligence chip for the Chinese market as early as June, offering a significantly lower-cost alternative to its now-restricted H20 GPU. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters the new chip will sell for $6,500 to $8,000—roughly half the price of the $10,000–$12,000 H20.

The upcoming GPU, reportedly based on Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D, will feature GDDR7 memory instead of high-bandwidth memory (HBM3e) and will not use TSMC's advanced CoWoS packaging. These design choices reduce complexity and cost, allowing Nvidia to keep the product within the bounds of current U.S. export controls, particularly memory bandwidth limits capped at around 1.7–1.8 TB/s. The chip is expected to meet those thresholds.

While the product name has yet to be confirmed, Chinese brokerage GF Securities speculates it could be branded as the 6000D or B40. The GPU could enter the Chinese market as soon as July.

This marks Nvidia's third attempt to tailor chips specifically for China amid tightening U.S. export restrictions. CEO Jensen Huang recently confirmed that the company is unable to further modify its older Hopper-architecture-based H20 under current rules. The ban on H20 has already led Nvidia to write off $5.5 billion in inventory and forgo $15 billion in potential sales.

China remains a crucial market for Nvidia, accounting for 13% of its revenue in the last fiscal year. However, its market share in the region has plummeted from 95% in early 2021 to around 50% today, largely due to U.S. sanctions. Huang warned that if export restrictions persist, more Chinese customers will shift to domestic rivals like Huawei, which produces the competing Ascend 910B chip.

In parallel, Nvidia is also developing another Blackwell-architecture AI chip for China, scheduled to enter production as early as September, according to sources.

Despite U.S. policy headwinds, China's AI chip market is projected to grow to $50 billion in the coming years—raising the stakes for Nvidia to retain its foothold.