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NVIDIA’s B40 GPU and the China export-limit cat and mouse

28 May 2025 · 151 views · 1 likes · 0 reposts · 112 blog views

AI Startups economy hardware product

🤔 Speaking of NVIDIA’s New B40 GPU for China ...

After the recent ban on its H20 chips, NVIDIA is rolling out a new plan for the Chinese market - a Blackwell-based GPU called the B40 (or RTX Pro 6000D), expected to go into mass production in June.

What’s interesting is how they’re staying just under U.S. export limits: slower GDDR7 memory (1.7 TB/s), fewer cores, no HBM, and no CoWoS packaging. All of this brings the price down to $6,500–$8,000 - cheaper than the banned H20, but still offering solid performance (just a notch below Hopper).

They are trying to hold the market share in China, where NVIDIA’s position has already been shaken by Huawei’s Ascend chips and local ASICs. But it feels like a cat-and-mouse game with U.S. regulators. First H100 and H200 were blocked, then the H800 workaround got banned too. Now the H20’s gone, and NVIDIA had to write off $5.5B in inventory.

They’re doing everything they can to stay in the game - even using GB202 consumer-grade chips without NVLink - but how long can this strategy hold? It doesn’t feel sustainable. Sooner or later, China will either catch up or find a way around. They’re already building momentum with their own AI chips, and it’s just a matter of time.

Still, it’s fascinating to watch this play out in real time.

NVIDIA’s B40 GPU and the China export-limit cat and mouse

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