Nvidia, a big company that makes powerful computer chips, is working on new versions of its artificial intelligence (AI) chips just for China. This comes after the United States government put strict rules on selling high-tech chips to China. The company wants to make sure it can still sell its products to Chinese businesses without breaking any US laws.

According to a report, Nvidia has already talked to some of its biggest customers in China, like Alibaba, ByteDance (the company behind TikTok), and Tencent. The company told them that it is changing the design of its AI chips so they can still be sold in China. Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, shared these plans during his visit to Beijing in April.

The US government recently added new restrictions on exporting Nvidia’s H20 AI chips to China. These rules were a big problem for Nvidia because China is one of its most important markets. The company even said that these restrictions could cost them around $5.5 billion in lost sales.

To solve this problem, Nvidia is designing special chips just for China that follow the US rules but still work well for AI tasks. The company told its customers that they might get samples of these new chips as early as June. Nvidia is also working on a China-friendly version of its latest AI chip, called Blackwell.

When asked about this news, Nvidia did not give any comments. ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent, and the US Commerce Department also did not respond immediately.

Selling advanced AI chips to China has been a tricky issue for Nvidia. The US government wants to stop China from getting the most powerful chips because it wants to stay ahead in the AI race. Last year, the US introduced strict rules to control which chips could be sold to China. Because of these rules, Nvidia had to stop selling its top AI chips, like the A100 and H100, in China.

After that, Nvidia started making weaker versions of its chips, like the H20, especially for the Chinese market. These chips were designed to meet the US export limits but still be useful for AI work. However, the US government later added even more restrictions, making it harder for Nvidia to sell even these modified chips.

Now, Nvidia is trying again by tweaking its chip designs to fit within the latest US rules. The company wants to keep its Chinese customers happy while following the law. China is a huge market for AI technology, and many companies there rely on Nvidia’s chips for things like cloud computing, self-driving cars, and smart apps.

Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, has said that China is making fast progress in AI and that Chinese companies, like Huawei, are strong competitors. He believes that if Nvidia can’t sell its chips in China, other companies will step in to fill the gap. That’s why Nvidia is working hard to create chips that can still be sold there legally.

The US and China have been competing in technology for years, especially in AI and semiconductors (the tiny chips that power everything from phones to supercomputers). The US wants to make sure China doesn’t get the best technology for military or spying purposes. At the same time, American companies like Nvidia don’t want to lose business in China, which is one of the biggest markets in the world.

For now, Nvidia is trying to balance both sides—following US laws while still supplying chips to Chinese companies. If the new chips are approved, they could help Nvidia keep its place in the Chinese market. But if the US adds even stricter rules in the future, Nvidia might have to go back to the drawing board again.

This situation shows how complicated the tech world can be, especially when politics and business mix. Companies like Nvidia have to be very careful to follow the rules while still trying to grow their business. Meanwhile, Chinese companies are also working hard to develop their own high-tech chips so they don’t have to depend on foreign suppliers.

In the end, the competition between the US and China in AI and chip technology is only getting stronger. Nvidia’s efforts to redesign its chips show how important the Chinese market is—and how far companies will go to stay in the game.