Nvidia, one of the world’s most prominent artificial intelligence (AI) chip manufacturers, launched a new gaming chip on Dec. 28, which is explicitly aimed at the Chinese market.
According to a report from Reuters, Nvidia’s new advanced gaming chip offers its clients in China a “quantum leap in performance, efficiency and artificial intelligence-driven graphics” while still complying with export controls imposed by the United States government.
“The GeForce RTX 4090 D has been designed to fully comply with U.S. government export controls. While developing this product, we extensively engaged with the U.S. government.”
This is Nvidia’s first China-focused chip since the introduction of export controls on chips to China imposed by President Joe Biden in October 2022. Since their initial enforcement, the U.S. government has tightened controls on multiple occasions.
The A800 and H800 chips, which are Nvidia’s most powerful chips, along with its state-of-the-art gaming chip, the RTX 4090, have all been blocked for sale in the Chinese market.
Its new RTX 4090 D is “5% slower in gaming and creating” and will cost 12,999 Chinese yuan ($1,842), according to a spokesperson on behalf of Nvidia.
The company says its new chip for China will be available starting in January 2024. Cointelegraph reached out to Nvidia for more information on its latest development but has not yet received a reply.
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China is one of Nvidia’s primary markets, making up over 90% of China’s $7 billion AI chip market. Following China, the U.S. and Taiwan are Nvidia’s largest markets, with around 13% coming from all other countries combined.
The company has previously warned that long-term results could be harmed if bans on exports to China become too restrictive. Despite this ban, Nvidia revealed a record $18 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2023 and cited generative AI as the primary revenue driver.
The extensive controls China faces from the U.S. government have pushed the country to find workarounds to expand its AI chip market.
On Sept. 25, Cointelegraph reported that China plans to build AI chip factories to create particle accelerators and help position the country as a leader in the global semiconductor industry.
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