According to a business filing on Tuesday, the US government has urged semiconductor designer Nvidia to immediately halt delivering some of its high-end artificial intelligence processors to China.
The US Department of Commerce has issued new semiconductor export limitations that tighten definitions for advanced AI devices and include preventive measures such as additional licencing requirements.
The restrictions were set to take effect 30 days after the administration of US President Joe Biden announced measures to prevent nations such as China, Iran, and Russia from getting advanced AI chips produced by US corporations on October 17.
Nvidia, on the other hand, stated that Washington told it on Monday that the export restrictions will take effect on that day for all of its products that exceed the new CPU performance cap and are built or promoted for data centres.
The chipmaker did not explain why the timeframe was accelerated by US regulators, but it said claim the action will have no immediate impact on its earnings.
Nvidia must suspend sales of modified advanced AI chips A800 and H800 without a licence under the most recent export prohibition. Both chips were developed for the Chinese market as replacements for the company’s A100 and H100 AI processors, which were subject to previous US limitations in October 2022.
The latest restriction also affects two other big US chipmakers, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel, who export AI semiconductors to China.
Intel, which began selling Gaudi 2 chips in China in July, stated that it was “reviewing the regulations and assessing the potential impact.”
