Key facts
- Nvidia has reduced its list of authorized Asian AI chip buyers by more than half.
- The company implemented a "white list" system with enhanced compliance checks.
- U.S. guidance clarified that export licenses are required for advanced chips if the ultimate parent company is Chinese.
- China has initiated a port crackdown on Nvidia chip shipments, including the H20 and RTX 6000D models.
- The measures aim to prevent banned high-end AI chips from reaching Chinese technology firms.
Nvidia has significantly tightened its compliance measures, more than halving the number of authorized Asian customers for its artificial intelligence chips. This action, reported by the Financial Times, is part of an effort to prevent its advanced products from reaching China.
The chipmaker has reportedly intensified due diligence over the past few months in Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan, creating a "white list" of companies that have passed stricter checks. This move comes as the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued guidance on May 31, clarifying that export licenses are required for advanced computing chips destined for any entity whose ultimate parent company is headquartered in China or Macau, regardless of its location. This clarification aimed to close a loophole that had allowed Chinese firms to acquire banned Nvidia GPUs through subsidiaries in Southeast Asia.
Industry estimates suggest hundreds of thousands of banned Nvidia chips may have already reached Chinese-owned subsidiaries via this channel. Concurrently, Chinese customs authorities, coordinated by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), have launched a sweeping crackdown on Nvidia chip shipments at major ports. This campaign specifically targets chips like the H20 and RTX 6000D, which were designed to comply with U.S. export controls but are now under renewed scrutiny from Beijing, as well as "all advanced semiconductor products."