Latest news with #FannyPotkin
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Nvidia working on new AI chip for China that outperforms the H20, sources say
By Liam Mo and Fanny Potkin BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Nvidia is developing a new AI chip for China based on its latest Blackwell architecture that will be more powerful than the H20 model it is currently allowed to sell there, two people briefed on the matter said. U.S. President Donald Trump last week opened the door to the possibility of more advanced Nvidia chips being sold in China. But the sources noted U.S. regulatory approval is far from guaranteed amid deep-seated fears in Washington about giving China too much access to U.S. artificial intelligence technology. The new chip, tentatively known as the B30A, will use a single-die design that is likely to deliver half the raw computing power of the more sophisticated dual-die configuration in Nvidia's flagship B300 accelerator card, the sources said. A single-die design is when all the main parts of an integrated circuit are made on one continuous piece of silicon rather than split across multiple dies. The new chip would have high-bandwidth memory and Nvidia's NVLink technology for fast data transmission between processors, features that are also in the H20 - a chip based on the company's older Hopper architecture. The chip's specifications are not completely finalised but Nvidia hopes to deliver samples to Chinese clients for testing as early as next month, said the sources who were not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified. Nvidia said in a statement: "We evaluate a variety of products for our roadmap, so that we can be prepared to compete to the extent that governments allow." "Everything we offer is with the full approval of the applicable authorities and designed solely for beneficial commercial use," it said. The U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. FLASHPOINT The extent to which China, which generated 13% of Nvidia's revenue in the past financial year, can have access to cutting-edge AI chips is one of the biggest flashpoints in U.S.-Sino trade tensions. Nvidia only received permission in July to recommence sales of the H20. It was developed specifically for China after export restrictions were put in place in 2023, but company was abruptly ordered to stop sales in April. Trump said last week he might allow Nvidia to sell a scaled-down version of its next-generation chip in China after announcing an unprecedented deal that will see Nvidia and rival AMD give the U.S. government 15% of revenue from sales of some advanced chips in China. A new Nvidia chip for China might have "30% to 50% off", he suggested in an apparent reference to the chip's computing power, adding that the H20 was "obsolete". U.S. legislators, both Democratic and Republican, have worried that access to even scaled-down versions of flagship AI chips will impede U.S. efforts to maintain its lead in artificial intelligence. But Nvidia and others argue that it is important to retain Chinese interest in its chips - which work with Nvidia's software tools - so that developers do not completely switch over to offerings from rivals like Huawei. Huawei has made great strides in chip development, with its latest models said to be on par with Nvidia in some aspects like computing power, though analysts say it lags in key areas such as software ecosystem support and memory bandwidth capabilities. Complicating Nvidia's efforts to retain market share in China, Chinese state media have also in recent weeks alleged that the U.S firm's chips could pose security risks, and authorities have cautioned Chinese tech firms about purchasing the H20. Nvidia says its chips carry no backdoor risks. Nvidia is also preparing to start delivering a separate new China-specific chip based on its Blackwell architecture and designed primarily for AI inference tasks, according to two other people familiar with those plans. Reuters reported in May that this chip, currently dubbed the RTX6000D, will sell for less than the H20, reflecting weaker specifications and simpler manufacturing requirements. The chip is designed to fall under thresholds set by the U.S. government. It uses conventional GDDR memory and features memory bandwidth of 1,398 gigabytes per second, just below the 1.4 terabyte threshold established by restrictions introduced in April that led to the initial H20 ban. Nvidia is set to deliver small batches of RTX6000D to Chinese clients in September, said one of the people. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Nvidia working on new AI chip for China that outperforms the H20, sources say
By Liam Mo and Fanny Potkin BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Nvidia is developing a new AI chip for China based on its latest Blackwell architecture that will be more powerful than the H20 model it is currently allowed to sell there, two people briefed on the matter said. U.S. President Donald Trump last week opened the door to the possibility of more advanced Nvidia chips being sold in China. But the sources noted U.S. regulatory approval is far from guaranteed amid deep-seated fears in Washington about giving China too much access to U.S. artificial intelligence technology. The new chip, tentatively known as the B30A, will use a single-die design that is likely to deliver half the raw computing power of the more sophisticated dual-die configuration in Nvidia's flagship B300 accelerator card, the sources said. A single-die design is when all the main parts of an integrated circuit are made on one continuous piece of silicon rather than split across multiple dies. The new chip would have high-bandwidth memory and Nvidia's NVLink technology for fast data transmission between processors, features that are also in the H20 - a chip based on the company's older Hopper architecture. The chip's specifications are not completely finalised but Nvidia hopes to deliver samples to Chinese clients for testing as early as next month, said the sources who were not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified. Nvidia said in a statement: "We evaluate a variety of products for our roadmap, so that we can be prepared to compete to the extent that governments allow." "Everything we offer is with the full approval of the applicable authorities and designed solely for beneficial commercial use," it said. The U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. FLASHPOINT The extent to which China, which generated 13% of Nvidia's revenue in the past financial year, can have access to cutting-edge AI chips is one of the biggest flashpoints in U.S.-Sino trade tensions. Nvidia only received permission in July to recommence sales of the H20. It was developed specifically for China after export restrictions were put in place in 2023, but company was abruptly ordered to stop sales in April. Trump said last week he might allow Nvidia to sell a scaled-down version of its next-generation chip in China after announcing an unprecedented deal that will see Nvidia and rival AMD give the U.S. government 15% of revenue from sales of some advanced chips in China. A new Nvidia chip for China might have "30% to 50% off", he suggested in an apparent reference to the chip's computing power, adding that the H20 was "obsolete". U.S. legislators, both Democratic and Republican, have worried that access to even scaled-down versions of flagship AI chips will impede U.S. efforts to maintain its lead in artificial intelligence. But Nvidia and others argue that it is important to retain Chinese interest in its chips - which work with Nvidia's software tools - so that developers do not completely switch over to offerings from rivals like Huawei. Huawei has made great strides in chip development, with its latest models said to be on par with Nvidia in some aspects like computing power, though analysts say it lags in key areas such as software ecosystem support and memory bandwidth capabilities. Complicating Nvidia's efforts to retain market share in China, Chinese state media have also in recent weeks alleged that the U.S firm's chips could pose security risks, and authorities have cautioned Chinese tech firms about purchasing the H20. Nvidia says its chips carry no backdoor risks. Nvidia is also preparing to start delivering a separate new China-specific chip based on its Blackwell architecture and designed primarily for AI inference tasks, according to two other people familiar with those plans. Reuters reported in May that this chip, currently dubbed the RTX6000D, will sell for less than the H20, reflecting weaker specifications and simpler manufacturing requirements. The chip is designed to fall under thresholds set by the U.S. government. It uses conventional GDDR memory and features memory bandwidth of 1,398 gigabytes per second, just below the 1.4 terabyte threshold established by restrictions introduced in April that led to the initial H20 ban. Nvidia is set to deliver small batches of RTX6000D to Chinese clients in September, said one of the people.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
US embeds trackers in AI chip shipments to catch diversions to China
By Fanny Potkin, Karen Freifeld and Jun Yuan Yong SINGAPORE/NEW YORK: U.S. authorities have secretly placed location tracking devices in targeted shipments of advanced chips they see as being at high risk of illegal diversion to China , according to two people with direct knowledge of the previously unreported law enforcement tactic. The measures aim to detect AI chips being diverted to destinations which are under U.S. export restrictions, and apply only to select shipments under investigation, the people said. They show the lengths to which the U.S. has gone to enforce its chip export restrictions on China, even as the Trump administration has sought to relax some curbs on Chinese access to advanced American semiconductors. The trackers can help build cases against people and companies who profit from violating U.S. export controls, said the people who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. Location trackers are a decades-old investigative tool used by U.S. law enforcement agencies to track products subject to export restrictions, such as airplane parts. They have been used to combat the illegal diversion of semiconductors in recent years, one source said. Five other people actively involved in the AI server supply chain say they are aware of the use of the trackers in shipments of servers from manufacturers such as Dell and Super Micro , which include chips from Nvidia and AMD . Those people said the trackers are typically hidden in the packaging of the server shipments. They did not know which parties were involved in installing them and where along the shipping route they were put in. Reuters was not able to determine how often the trackers have been used in chip related investigations or when U.S. authorities started using them to investigate chip smuggling. The U.S. started restricting the sale of advanced chips by Nvidia, AMD and other manufacturers to China in 2022. In one 2024 case described by two of the people involved in the server supply chain, a shipment of Dell servers with Nvidia chips included both large trackers on the shipping boxes and smaller, more discreet devices hidden inside the packaging - and even within the servers themselves. A third person said they had seen images and videos of trackers being removed by other chip resellers from Dell and Super Micro servers. The person said some of the larger trackers were roughly the size of a smartphone. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls and enforcement, is typically involved, and Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, may take part too, said the sources. The HSI and FBI both declined to comment. The Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment. The Chinese foreign ministry did not have immediate comment. Super Micro said in a statement that it does not disclose its "security practices and policies in place to protect our worldwide operations, partners, and customers." It declined to comment on any tracking actions by U.S. authorities. Dell said it is "not aware of a U.S. Government initiative to place trackers in its product shipments." Nvidia declined to comment, while AMD did not answer a request for comment. CHIP RESTRICTIONS The United States, which dominates the global AI chip supply chain, has sought to limit exports of chips and other technology to China in recent years to restrain its military modernization. It has also put restrictions on the sale of chips to Russia to undercut war efforts against Ukraine. The White House and both houses of Congress have proposed requiring U.S. chip firms to include location verification technology with their chips to prevent them from being diverted to countries where U.S. export regulations restrict sales. China has slammed the U.S. exports curbs as part of a campaign to suppress its rise and criticized the location tracking proposal. Last month, the country's powerful cyberspace regulator summoned Nvidia to a meeting to express its concerns over the risks of its chips containing "backdoors" that would allow remote access or control, which the company has strongly denied. In January, Reuters reported the U.S. had traced organized AI chip smuggling to China via countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and the UAE - but it is unclear if tracking devices were involved. The use of trackers by U.S. law enforcement goes back decades. In 1985, Hughes Aircraft shipped equipment subject to U.S. export controls, according to a court decision reviewed by Reuters. Executing a search warrant, the U.S. Customs Service intercepted the crate at a Houston airport and installed a tracking device, the decision noted. U.S. export enforcement agents sometimes install trackers after getting administrative approval. Other times they get a judge to issue a warrant authorizing use of the device, one source said. With a warrant, it is easier to use the information as evidence in a criminal case. A company may be told about the tracker, if they are not a subject of the investigation, and may consent to the government's installation of the trackers, the source added. But the devices can also be installed without their knowledge. People involved in diverting export-controlled chip and server shipments to China said they were aware of the devices. Two of the supply chain sources, who are China-based resellers of export-controlled chips, said they regularly took care to inspect diverted shipments of AI chip servers for the trackers due to the risks of the devices being embedded. An affidavit filed with a U.S Department of Justice complaint regarding the arrests of two Chinese nationals charged with illegally shipping tens of millions of dollars' worth of AI chips to China earlier this month describes one co-conspirator instructing another to check for trackers on Quanta H200 servers, which contain Nvidia chips. It said the English language text was sent by a co-conspirator, whose name was redacted, to one of the defendants, Yang Shiwei. "Pay attention to see if there is a tracker on it, you must look for it carefully," said the person, who went on to call the Trump administration by an obscenity. "Who knows what they will do."
Yahoo
13-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-US embeds trackers in AI chip shipments to catch diversions to China, sources say
By Fanny Potkin, Karen Freifeld and Jun Yuan Yong SINGAPORE/NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. authorities have secretly placed location tracking devices in targeted shipments of advanced chips they see as being at high risk of illegal diversion to China, according to two people with direct knowledge of the previously unreported law enforcement tactic. The measures aim to detect AI chips being diverted to destinations which are under U.S. export restrictions, and apply only to select shipments under investigation, the people said. They show the lengths to which the U.S. has gone to enforce its chip export restrictions on China, even as the Trump administration has sought to relax some curbs on Chinese access to advanced American semiconductors. The trackers can help build cases against people and companies who profit from violating U.S. export controls, said the people who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. Location trackers are a decades-old investigative tool used by U.S. law enforcement agencies to track products subject to export restrictions, such as airplane parts. They have been used to combat the illegal diversion of semiconductors in recent years, one source said. Five other people actively involved in the AI server supply chain say they are aware of the use of the trackers in shipments of servers from manufacturers such as Dell and Super Micro, which include chips from Nvidia and AMD. Those people said the trackers are typically hidden in the packaging of the server shipments. They did not know which parties were involved in installing them and where along the shipping route they were put in. Reuters was not able to determine how often the trackers have been used in chip related investigations or when U.S. authorities started using them to investigate chip smuggling. The U.S. started restricting the sale of advanced chips by Nvidia, AMD and other manufacturers to China in 2022. In one 2024 case described by two of the people involved in the server supply chain, a shipment of Dell servers with Nvidia chips included both large trackers on the shipping boxes and smaller, more discreet devices hidden inside the packaging — and even within the servers themselves. A third person said they had seen images and videos of trackers being removed by other chip resellers from Dell and Super Micro servers. The person said some of the larger trackers were roughly the size of a smartphone. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls and enforcement, is typically involved, and Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, may take part too, said the sources. The HSI and FBI both declined to comment. The Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment. The Chinese foreign ministry did not have immediate comment. Super Micro said in a statement that it does not disclose its 'security practices and policies in place to protect our worldwide operations, partners, and customers.' It declined to comment on any tracking actions by U.S. authorities. Dell said it is 'not aware of a U.S. Government initiative to place trackers in its product shipments.' Nvidia declined to comment, while AMD did not answer a request for comment. CHIP RESTRICTIONS The United States, which dominates the global AI chip supply chain, has sought to limit exports of chips and other technology to China in recent years to restrain its military modernization. It has also put restrictions on the sale of chips to Russia to undercut war efforts against Ukraine. The White House and both houses of Congress have proposed requiring U.S. chip firms to include location verification technology with their chips to prevent them from being diverted to countries where U.S. export regulations restrict sales. China has slammed the U.S. exports curbs as part of a campaign to suppress its rise and criticized the location tracking proposal. Last month, the country's powerful cyberspace regulator summoned Nvidia to a meeting to express its concerns over the risks of its chips containing "backdoors" that would allow remote access or control, which the company has strongly denied. In January, Reuters reported the U.S. had traced organized AI chip smuggling to China via countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and the UAE — but it is unclear if tracking devices were involved. The use of trackers by U.S. law enforcement goes back decades. In 1985, Hughes Aircraft shipped equipment subject to U.S. export controls, according to a court decision reviewed by Reuters. Executing a search warrant, the U.S. Customs Service intercepted the crate at a Houston airport and installed a tracking device, the decision noted. U.S. export enforcement agents sometimes install trackers after getting administrative approval. Other times they get a judge to issue a warrant authorizing use of the device, one source said. With a warrant, it is easier to use the information as evidence in a criminal case. A company may be told about the tracker, if they are not a subject of the investigation, and may consent to the government's installation of the trackers, the source added. But the devices can also be installed without their knowledge. People involved in diverting export-controlled chip and server shipments to China said they were aware of the devices. Two of the supply chain sources, who are China-based resellers of export-controlled chips, said they regularly took care to inspect diverted shipments of AI chip servers for the trackers due to the risks of the devices being embedded. An affidavit filed with a U.S Department of Justice complaint regarding the arrests of two Chinese nationals charged with illegally shipping tens of millions of dollars' worth of AI chips to China earlier this month describes one co-conspirator instructing another to check for trackers on Quanta H200 servers, which contain Nvidia chips. It said the English language text was sent by a co-conspirator, whose name was redacted, to one of the defendants, Yang Shiwei. 'Pay attention to see if there is a tracker on it, you must look for it carefully," said the person, who went on to call the Trump administration by an obscenity. "Who knows what they will do."
Yahoo
13-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-US embeds trackers in AI chip shipments to catch diversions to China, sources say
By Fanny Potkin, Karen Freifeld and Jun Yuan Yong SINGAPORE/NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. authorities have secretly placed location tracking devices in targeted shipments of advanced chips they see as being at high risk of illegal diversion to China, according to two people with direct knowledge of the previously unreported law enforcement tactic. The measures aim to detect AI chips being diverted to destinations which are under U.S. export restrictions, and apply only to select shipments under investigation, the people said. They show the lengths to which the U.S. has gone to enforce its chip export restrictions on China, even as the Trump administration has sought to relax some curbs on Chinese access to advanced American semiconductors. The trackers can help build cases against people and companies who profit from violating U.S. export controls, said the people who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. Location trackers are a decades-old investigative tool used by U.S. law enforcement agencies to track products subject to export restrictions, such as airplane parts. They have been used to combat the illegal diversion of semiconductors in recent years, one source said. Five other people actively involved in the AI server supply chain say they are aware of the use of the trackers in shipments of servers from manufacturers such as Dell and Super Micro, which include chips from Nvidia and AMD. Those people said the trackers are typically hidden in the packaging of the server shipments. They did not know which parties were involved in installing them and where along the shipping route they were put in. Reuters was not able to determine how often the trackers have been used in chip related investigations or when U.S. authorities started using them to investigate chip smuggling. The U.S. started restricting the sale of advanced chips by Nvidia, AMD and other manufacturers to China in 2022. In one 2024 case described by two of the people involved in the server supply chain, a shipment of Dell servers with Nvidia chips included both large trackers on the shipping boxes and smaller, more discreet devices hidden inside the packaging — and even within the servers themselves. A third person said they had seen images and videos of trackers being removed by other chip resellers from Dell and Super Micro servers. The person said some of the larger trackers were roughly the size of a smartphone. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls and enforcement, is typically involved, and Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, may take part too, said the sources. The HSI and FBI both declined to comment. The Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment. The Chinese foreign ministry did not have immediate comment. Super Micro said in a statement that it does not disclose its 'security practices and policies in place to protect our worldwide operations, partners, and customers.' It declined to comment on any tracking actions by U.S. authorities. Dell said it is 'not aware of a U.S. Government initiative to place trackers in its product shipments.' Nvidia declined to comment, while AMD did not answer a request for comment. CHIP RESTRICTIONS The United States, which dominates the global AI chip supply chain, has sought to limit exports of chips and other technology to China in recent years to restrain its military modernization. It has also put restrictions on the sale of chips to Russia to undercut war efforts against Ukraine. The White House and both houses of Congress have proposed requiring U.S. chip firms to include location verification technology with their chips to prevent them from being diverted to countries where U.S. export regulations restrict sales. China has slammed the U.S. exports curbs as part of a campaign to suppress its rise and criticized the location tracking proposal. Last month, the country's powerful cyberspace regulator summoned Nvidia to a meeting to express its concerns over the risks of its chips containing "backdoors" that would allow remote access or control, which the company has strongly denied. In January, Reuters reported the U.S. had traced organized AI chip smuggling to China via countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and the UAE — but it is unclear if tracking devices were involved. The use of trackers by U.S. law enforcement goes back decades. In 1985, Hughes Aircraft shipped equipment subject to U.S. export controls, according to a court decision reviewed by Reuters. Executing a search warrant, the U.S. Customs Service intercepted the crate at a Houston airport and installed a tracking device, the decision noted. U.S. export enforcement agents sometimes install trackers after getting administrative approval. Other times they get a judge to issue a warrant authorizing use of the device, one source said. With a warrant, it is easier to use the information as evidence in a criminal case. A company may be told about the tracker, if they are not a subject of the investigation, and may consent to the government's installation of the trackers, the source added. But the devices can also be installed without their knowledge. People involved in diverting export-controlled chip and server shipments to China said they were aware of the devices. Two of the supply chain sources, who are China-based resellers of export-controlled chips, said they regularly took care to inspect diverted shipments of AI chip servers for the trackers due to the risks of the devices being embedded. An affidavit filed with a U.S Department of Justice complaint regarding the arrests of two Chinese nationals charged with illegally shipping tens of millions of dollars' worth of AI chips to China earlier this month describes one co-conspirator instructing another to check for trackers on Quanta H200 servers, which contain Nvidia chips. It said the English language text was sent by a co-conspirator, whose name was redacted, to one of the defendants, Yang Shiwei. 'Pay attention to see if there is a tracker on it, you must look for it carefully," said the person, who went on to call the Trump administration by an obscenity. "Who knows what they will do." Sign in to access your portfolio
