Is NVIDIA's RTX 5090D for the Chinese market compliant with US regulations with "firmware-based feature restrictions"?

November 27, 2024 (excerpt)

Details of NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce RTX 50 Series model, the 'RTX 5090D' for the Chinese market scheduled to be announced in January 2025, are becoming clear. Unlike the previous generation RTX 4090D, it is expected to adopt the same hardware specifications as the global version RTX 5090, while incorporating a new approach that suppresses AI processing performance through firmware-level restrictions.

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This new approach also faces technical challenges. The boundary between AI workloads and gaming workloads is not always clear, and it is not easy to completely separate and control both. In addition, there is debate about the effectiveness of firmware-based restrictions, given past experiences where LHR limitations were eventually bypassed. NVIDIA is reportedly considering implementing more robust protection mechanisms to address these challenges, but specific technical details have not been revealed at this time.
In this situation, NVIDIA is forced to navigate the difficult balance of maintaining competitiveness in the china market while complying with regulatory requirements. In the future, if export regulations in the usa become even more strict, the effectiveness of this approach will be tested.。