Nvidia’s advanced AI chip dominance in China has evaporated, dropping to zero due to US export controls. CEO Jensen Huang revealed the company is completely barred from selling high-performance chips, warning this exclusion harms both nations and cedes the market to domestic rivals like Huawei. China’s push for self-sufficiency accelerates this shift.
Nvidia, the American semiconductor giant, has seen its dominance in China’s advanced chip market vanish, with its market share dropping from 95% to Zero due to stringent US export controls, according to CEO Jensen Huang.
Speaking at a Citadel Securities event in New York earlier this month, Huang revealed that Nvidia is completely barred from selling its high-performance AI chips, including the A100, H100, and H200 models, to Chinese companies since restrictions began in 2022.
A video of the interview was released recently. Huang expressed hope for a policy shift, stating, “We will continue to explain and inform and hold on to hope for a change in policy.”
He emphasized that Nvidia’s exclusion from China not only harms the company but also has broader implications for both China and the U.S. “What harms China could oftentimes also harm America, and even worse,” Huang said. He further highlighted China’s significant role in global AI development, with roughly 50% of the world’s AI researchers.
Chinese AI and semiconductor contenders have rushed to launch domestic alternatives, eroding Nvidia’s once-dominant market share. Huawei’s advancements, including clustering methods to bypass Nvidia’s technology and cutting-edge manufacturing techniques, signal China’s aggressive push for semiconductor self-sufficiency.
Despite receiving US approval to sell a less powerful H20 chip tailored for the Chinese market, Nvidia faces further challenges.
Chinese authorities launched a security investigation into the H20, and local clients were advised to avoid the product, further limiting Nvidia’s foothold. Huang warned that excluding Nvidia from China risks ceding the market to domestic competitors like Huawei Technologies, which recently unveiled an ambitious AI chip roadmap.
“It’s a mistake not to have those researchers build AI on American technology,” Huang said, raising concerns about balancing U.S. technological leadership with global collaboration. As China accelerates its domestic chip development, Nvidia’s absence from the market could reshape the global AI and semiconductor landscape.
China to tech companies: You cannot buy AI chips from Nvidia
Nvidia recently got shut out of the Chinese market after China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, reportedly banned domestic tech companies from buying Nvidia AI chips. According to a report by Financial Times, the Chinese agency also told tech companies, including ByteDance and Alibaba, to stop testing and ordering Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D server, a device designed specifically for the market in China.
-The Times of India.