It is is rumored in the tech circles that NVIDIA might actually be scaling back the production of its GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards for some very good reason: an insatiable demand for AI chips is now in full force.
To no one's surprise, the cash cow that has driven NVIDIA's Data Center division is actually AI. Now that the company is about to kick off mass AI chip production for its new GB300, something eventually has to give. That "something" is the supply of GPU chips cut for us gamers.
Sources say that the cut can run as high as a whopping 20-30% in the production of the GeForce RTX 50 series in China. The idea being that NVIDIA is trying to free up resources and manufacturing capacity for its AI powerhouses. This isn't just with respect to the upcoming GB300; it includes AI chips already in use, such as the GB200 and the B40, a chip for the Chinese market.
Even without recent news, many have found it nearly impossible to locate a GeForce RTX 50 series card being sold for its suggested retail price. Most gamers are subject to markups of 20 percent or more, and prices in some regions reach over 150 percent of the original value. All this has contributed to the problem, and any further shift toward the production of chips for AI could just aggravate it.
A relevant note from upstream manufacturers is drawing attention to how, while the RTX 50 series might be mostly out, GPU production lines have been a little unstable. Supply became a problem shortly after the launch of these cards. Considering NVIDIA's AI chip lines with GB20X production running already at full throttle and the new GB300 chip set to go into mass production late in 2025, it is conceivable that there could be a wafer capacity constraint, directly affecting the RTX 50 availability.
Some sources have even pointed out that there has already been a noticeable tightening in the RTX 50 GPU supplies. An example would be the shipments to the Chinese market in June, which reportedly declined by that 20-30% figure compared to May, though the reasons remain a little hazy according to the leaker.
Paradoxically, the mighty GB200 and GB300 AI chips are not really banned in China, although their availability may be complicated by US export regulations. The H20 was popular for the low-cost segment of the AI market in China. With the restrictions on that chip, NVIDIA is believed to be pushing the RTX PRO 6000D (a.k.a. B40) as a more viable contender.
While the winds are still not strong enough to have officially confirmed the cause of the current dip in RTX 50 supply, the strong pull of the lucrative AI market seems a very plausible explanation. For perhaps the next few patient months (and maybe some cash on the side), gamers will have to decide what to do about this news.
