Nvidia is a simpler version of the advanced graphics processor A100 made to bypass the new US sanctions against China and Russia. These sanctions prevent manufacturers from selling AI training equipment to these countries, but now it appears that the chip will not require a new license.
Nvidia’s new graphics card with the name A800 known, it uses the same processing power as the original but can only compete with other cards in a computing cluster at a rate 400 Gbps work and will not have access to the 600 Gbit rate. The Wall Street Journal says this means the A800 has as much power as the original for simple tasks, but it can’t be used in, say, a supercomputer.
Nvidia A800 is the successor of A100 for China
One of Nvidia’s spokesmen told Reuters news agency that this graphics card replaces A100 for china which does not violate US export laws. Although the exact details of US surveillance sanctions are not available, the country apparently includes internal communication speeds and several other processing thresholds in its reviews.
Nvidia says that this new product is designed in such a way that the user cannot bypass its limitations. This comment is important because this company had sent processors to the market in the past that had limitations in the field of Cryptocurrency mining They had, but it didn’t take long for users to overcome these limitations.
In October, the US government introduced new sanctions on the sale of chips and chip manufacturing equipment to China. Nvidia and AMD had warned their investors that the new restrictions could affect their ability to sell high-end products to the country. Now we have to see what will be the reaction of China and America to this new product.
It is not yet clear whether the A800 can still be used in practice for military applications in the Chinese military or other Chinese government projects that the US opposes.
