NVIDIA Corporation is taking strict action to ensure that its AI GPUs only land in the hands of the right customers, reports the Financial Times. The action is to ensure that its chips do not reach China, and it follows increasing scrutiny by Taiwanese authorities on firms allegedly involved in shipping the chips to the Asian country. Previous reports have suggested that the Chinese government is interested in granting exemptions to some local firms to buy NVIDIA chips, even as firms such as Huawei claim to be able to achieve parity with Western technology in the future.
NVIDIA Is Working With US Government To Ensure Sanctioned Chips Do Not Reach China, Says Report
Today's report comes after Taiwanese authorities raided the offices of Super Micro and other companies late last month as part of investigations surrounding the shipment of GPUs to China. While US sanctions explicitly restrict the sales of the advanced GPUs to China, the chips can make their way into the country through countries such as Taiwan. Super Micro insisted, following the raid, that it was working with authorities to ensure that its products are legally distributed.
US prosecutors also initiated legal action in March against Super Micro in March to target so-called 'pass-through' entities, which were involved in repackaging Super Micro's products and sending them to China through Taiwan.
Now, a fresh report from the Financial Times suggests that the actions by the US government have created a shortage of NVIDIA chips in China. The publication quotes industry insiders to add that large sales of NVIDIA's H200 GPUs to China are also unlikely.
Now, the Financial Times reports that NVIDIA has expanded its efforts to screen customers to prevent the shipment of the advanced AI chips to China. While the firm's previous efforts included screening the customers, now the firm has increased the number of visits to the customer facilities and interviews to determine whether they are genuine businesses. The targeted countries include Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, and the efforts have cut the number of NVIDIA's Asian customers into half. As part of the efforts, the firm is working with the Commerce Department, say the sources.
While NVIDIA expands its compliance checks, other reports have suggested that China might allow some companies to import the firm's chips. A report which surfaced earlier this month claimed that China could allow 200,000 NVIDIA chips inside its shores and added that the figure was half of what the companies had asked for.
While NVIDIA has designed the H200 GPU to meet Chinese specifications, Beijing has prevented local companies from buying the watered-down chips. The efforts are part of China's efforts to promote domestic technology development and reduce reliance on Western technology products.
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
