Nvidia 'to launch cheaper Blackwell AI chip for China'

Sources: New GPU to cost $6,500-$8,000

- LIAM MO FANNY POTKIN

Nvidia will launch a new artificial intelligence chipset for China at a significantly lower price than its recently restricted H20 model and plans to start mass production as early as June, sources familiar with the matter said.

The GPU or graphics processing unit will be part of Nvidia's latest generation Blackwell-architecture Al processors and is expected to be priced between $6,500 and $8,000, well below the $10,000-$12,000 the H20 sold for, according to two of the sources.

The lower price reflects its weaker specifications and simpler manufacturing requirements.

It will be based on Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D, a server-class graphics processor, and will use conventional GDDR7 memory instead of more advanced high bandwidth memory, the two sources said.

They added it would not use Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's advanced Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology.

The new chip's price, production timing and above details have not previously been reported.

The three sources that Reuters spoke to for this article declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to media.