Nvidia to sell hobbled chip version in China

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, reports Caixin. 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 (AI) capabilities, is limiting access to specialized chips in that market.