In the future, even stricter rules will apply to the export of US chip technology to China. The US also restricts sales of semiconductors designed specifically for the Chinese market.
In the competition to develop artificial intelligence (AI), the USA has further tightened its restrictions on chip deliveries to China. The so-called H800 and A800 chips from the Californian semiconductor company Nvidia are likely to be particularly affected by the new rules. Nvidia’s technology plays a key role in training systems with artificial intelligence (AI) worldwide.
Orders over 5 billion dollars
The previous level of US export restrictions had already prevented the sale to China of Nvidia’s H100 and A100 chip systems, which large companies in the West use to develop their AI software such as the chatbot ChatGPT. The group quickly developed the slimmed down versions H800 and A800. They were below the ban threshold because they exchange data with each other more slowly than the top models.
The new export restrictions are likely to have a massive impact on Nvidia’s business: According to previous information, Nvidia received orders worth around five billion dollars for these chip systems. It is unclear how much of this can be fulfilled before the new US restrictions take effect. Nvidia shares fell by almost five percent after the new export rules were announced.
China wants to develop technology itself
According to the US government, the trade restrictions want to prevent China from gaining access to American cutting-edge technology with military use. China is therefore trying to develop its own chip technology – and recently presented some progress. For this reason alone, US measures were expected to be tightened.
At the same time, there have been warnings from the American chip industry in recent months that restrictions that are too harsh could harm the business of US companies like Nvidia. Yesterday, the share prices of chip suppliers such as Intel and AMD also fell.