Nvidia’s China customers to get hobbled version of gaming chip

Nvidia Corp., the world’s most valuable chipmaker, is selling a less-capable version of its best graphics product for video gamers in China, after the US government tightened restrictions on what the company can market in that country. 

The version of the GTX 4090 D chip that is listed for sale on Nvidia’s China website has about 10% fewer processing cores than the 4090 that is sold in other countries.

“The GeForce RTX 4090 D has been designed to comply with US government export controls and will only be available at retail in China,” a Nvidia spokesperson said in an email.

Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang has said he would produce versions of his market-leading products for China that comply with rules imposed by the Biden administration on exports to that country. The US, seeking to slow down the advancement of China’s artificial intelligence capabilities, is limiting access to specialized chips in that market. 

The company said it “extensively engaged” with the US government while developing the graphics product, which will be available in January.

Compared with the 4090 sold elsewhere, the China model will also have fewer processing sub units that are useful for accelerating artificial intelligence workloads, Nvidia said.

US officials, who’ve cited national security concerns, are more interested in Nvidia’s AI accelerators, a range that’s currently topped by the H100. That type of chip, which is based on technology used in graphics cards, has become the basis of an explosion in AI-capable hardware by owners of large data centers. 

When US export rules were tightened in 2022, Nvidia introduced less capable versions of its chips for China. The US clamped down again in October by further reducing performance thresholds. Nvidia’s leadership responded by saying the company would again redo its offerings for the Asian country, the largest market for chips, to make them compliant with the new rules. 

Nvidia shares rose less than 1% to $497.10 at 12:25 p.m. in New York. The stock has more than tripled this year, making Nvidia by far the best performing semiconductor stock in 2023 and the industry’s first company with a market value of $1 trillion.