With the US's new trade policies, it seems like the US chipmaker Intel hasn't seen any exemption at all, as it is reported that the firm would require an export license to sell its Gaudi chips to China.
Intel Would Now Need A License To Sell Gaudi Chips To China; Not Much of a Business Hit Compared To NVIDIA/AMD
We recently reported that a massive roadblock has hit NVIDIA's business in China. Team Green is now barred from selling the H20 AI accelerators to the nation, which will result in "billions of dollars" in losses for the company. Apart from NVIDIA, AMD too is hit with an export control restriction, but there were hopes that Intel, being a native chipmaker, would see some favour. However, according to the Financial Times (via Reuters), Intel is too restricted to selling high-end AI accelerators, putting the company's business at risk.
It is revealed that Team Blue won't be able to export AI chips if they have a DRAM bandwidth at 1,400 GB/s or above, and these restrictions target the company's Gaudi chips. Intel doesn't have as huge a business as NVIDIA in China, but the company did have tech giants like ByteDance as its sole clients, who bought up Intel's chips as an alternative to NVIDIA. Now that Intel would need an export license, Team Blue would need to go through many legal proceedings before shipping out its accelerators.
The Trump administration's latest round of trade policies has put tech giants like NVIDIA and AMD in a problematic situation. Both companies are now barred from directly selling chips to China, so maintaining a market presence in the region has become much more complicated. To top it off, these policies would only help China in the longer run, given that the nation would resort to domestic alternatives, such as the Ascend chips from Huawei.
It would be interesting to see what the companies come up with as an alternative to the situation, given that now, either they'll need to offer more "cut-down" solutions or exit the markets altogether, but the latter one seems impossible for now.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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