The we ordered Nvidialling two of its chips in China on Wednesday. Nvidia will not be allowed to export its super-GPU-powered data center supercomputers H100 and A100 to China.
Nvidia stated to Reuters that the new US rule would address the risk that products could be used in or diverted into a military use’ or military user’ in China.
According to SEC filings, Nvidia will lose $400 million due to the ban on two of its chips. This could harm China’s advanced computing capabilities in civilian and military applications.
A representative from Nvidia told me that they are working with Chinese customers to find alternative products. They may also seek licenses for replacements if the current ones are insufficient. “The new licensing requirements only apply to existing products, A100, H100, and systems such DGX, which include them.
The US Department of Commerce did not explain the reasons behind the order.
In state media, the Chinese foreign ministry reacted to the US’s “tech blockade” on Thursday. This would harm global supply chains and stability. The Chinese commerce ministry says the US “continues to abuse export control measures to restrict semiconductor-related items to China.”
Nvidia plans to apply for a license to continue exports to China. However, it has not said whether the US will grant this exemption. According to the SEC filing, Nvidia currently does not sell any of its chips in Russia.
The US has already stopped Chinese chipmakers from selling to China from the beginning. Due to national security concerns, the US government placed Huawei’s smartphone company on an export blacklist in 2019. The US government placed Huawei on an export blacklist, which prevented US suppliers from selling to the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world at the time.
AMD also announced that it would prohibit the export of its MI250 AI chips to China. However, the company assured Reuters that the new rules wouldn’t affect business. These recent bans will not help the already difficult relationship between the US US and China.
