Nvidia Drops Bombshell: China’s Next-Gen AI Chips Won’t Use Hopper Architecture

Nvidia just pulled the rug out from under China’s AI ambitions—their next flagship chip won’t be part of the Hopper family. Cue the frantic recalculations in Shenzhen boardrooms.

Why it matters: Hopper’s been the gold standard for AI acceleration. This move forces China’s tech giants to either adapt or get left in the computational dust.

The finance angle: Another ’strategic pivot’ that’ll somehow get spun into a bullish narrative for NVDA shareholders. Because nothing fuels hype like artificial scarcity in the AI arms race.

Nvidia looks to survive in China as AI rules tighten

Jensen traveled to China shortly after the restrictions were announced, underlining just how much the market still matters to the company. China brought in $17 billion for Nvidia in the fiscal year ending January 26, which made up 13% of the company’s total revenue. But holding onto that number is getting harder.

As reported by Reuters, the company is planning to launch a new downgraded chip sometime in the next two months. The unnamed chip won’t belong to the Hopper family, Jensen said. That confirms what many had suspected: the design limits of Hopper have been fully reached, and Nvidia has no more legal wiggle room with that line.

The current regulations come from the Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion, a policy introduced in January by the Biden administration, just a week before President Donald TRUMP returned to the White House. 

The rules blocked advanced AI chips from being exported to several countries, including China. Speaking about those controls, Jensen said they were a mistake. “Export controls should be designed to maximize the proliferation of US technology,” he said, criticizing the Biden-era framework.

Trump has said that he plans to cancel the AI diffusion policy completely, calling it bad for business and innovation. But for now, the restrictions remain in place, and Nvidia is stuck trying to keep a foothold in China without breaking the law.

At the same time, local players like Huawei are gaining ground in the AI chip market, taking advantage of Nvidia’s regulatory setbacks. The company isn’t exiting China, but it’s now forced to rely on low-performance alternatives until a new architecture is ready.

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