The restrictions imposed so far would be expanded for lower-performance GPUs. The US wants to keep China out of AI competition at all costs.

In September 2022, the White House ruled that GPU vendors like Nvidia could no longer ship their most powerful GPUs to Russia and China. According to the official statement, the USA wants to prevent political opponents from using the chips in supercomputers for military purposes, although economic motives also play a role. AI is a lucrative business and the US wants to prevent China from getting a piece of the pie.

That’s why Washington would like to tighten the measures imposed in September, writes the Wall Street Journal. Less advanced GPUs would also fall under the restrictions, such as Nvidia’s A800 and H800 series. For Nvidia (but also AMD) this means that they are no longer allowed to sell anything in China without express permission from the government.

loss of opportunity

Nvidia is not satisfied with that. The restrictions are costing the company a lot of money: the Chinese market accounted for 22 percent of total sales in 2022. CFO Colette Kress therefore warns that the measures would mean “a permanent loss of opportunity” for the USA. She doesn’t expect an “immediate material effect” for her own company, she tells the Wall Street Journal.

China, on the other hand, seems less and less worried about these trade restrictions. Local chipmakers like Loongson build their own chips. They’re not yet at the level of what Nvidia, AMD and Intel can do, but they’re getting close. Therefore, the United States is taking every opportunity to put China as far behind as possible in the AI ​​competition.