U.S. CRACKS DOWN ON AI CHIP EXPORT TO CHINA

• Nvidia said on Wednesday that US officials had warned it to cease shipping two key AI chips to China for artificial intelligence work, a move that may impair Chinese enterprises’ capacity to execute advanced work such as image recognition and undermine Nvidia’s operations in the nation.
• After hours, Nvidia’s shares fell 6.6% in value.
• According to the firm, the ban, which affects its A100 and H100 chips designed to expedite machine learning processes, may hamper the completion of the H100, the company’s flagship chip announced this year.
• Former President Donald Trump’s administration restricted suppliers from supplying US-developed semiconductors to telecom giant Huawei without a special license in 2020. Without American processors from companies like Nvidia and AMD, Chinese firms cannot do current computer tasks like image and speech recognition at a fair cost.
• Nvidia indicated that it had booked $400 million in sales to China of the afflicted chips this quarter, which may be lost if firms do not acquire other Nvidia goods.

Nvidia Corp, a chip designer, said on Wednesday that U.S. officials had told it to stop exporting two top AI chips for artificial intelligence work to China, a move that could cripple Chinese firms’ ability to perform advanced work such as image recognition and harm Nvidia’s business in the country, Reuters reports.

AI CHIP EXPORT BAN IMPACTS BOTH NVIDIA AND AMD

The statement marks a significant increase in the United States’ crackdown on China’s technical capabilities as tensions rise over the destiny of Taiwan, where AI chips for Nvidia and nearly every other major semiconductor business are built.

Nvidia’s stock dropped 6.6% after hours. The embargo, which affects its A100 and H100 chips meant to accelerate machine learning operations, might impede the completion of the H100, the business’s flagship AI chip launched this year, according to the company.

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