China Urges Local Companies to Stay Away From Nvidia’s Chips
- Nvidia can only sell slower AI chips to China due to US curbs
- Beijing is fostering domestic champions like Huawei, Cambricon
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Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence chips instead of Nvidia Corp. products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions.
Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, according to people familiar with the matter. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI startups and escalating tensions with the US, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.