HP will be using Nvidia's A800 datacenter GPU for upcoming Z-branded workstations made for AI as indicated by a GTC presentation description (via @agamsh on X). Originally developed as a GPU that would comply with U.S. sanctions on China, it lost its reason to exist when U.S. sanctions expanded to ban the A800. The new Z AI workstation is seemingly one way Nvidia and HP have decided it can reuse the cut-down Ampere graphics card.
When the U.S. introduced its initial GPU export bans in October 2021, it banned Nvidia's flagship A100 and H100 GPUs from being sold to China. However, since these regulations were based on performance characteristics, Nvidia was able to launch the cut-down A800 and H800 as replacements, which performed pretty much the same as the flagship cards but had a significantly lower GPU-to-GPU bandwidth. That was enough to comply with U.S. sanctions, though it did make the A800 essentially a worse A100.
But a wrench was thrown into Nvidia's plans when the U.S. government revised its export rules, and suddenly the A800 was no longer legal to sell to China. While it could be used in other markets, having lower bandwidth for GPU-to-GPU connections undoubtedly reduced demand from customers who didn't want the slower connection speeds.
