China officially bans its companies from buying Nvidia, $NVDA, chips
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang addressed the U.S. tech giant’s challenges in China after reports surfaced that the country has barred its artificial intelligence chips.
Huang said he was “disappointed” following a Financial Times report Wednesday that China’s Cyberspace Administration instructed companies including ByteDance and Alibaba not to purchase Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D, a chip specifically developed for the Chinese market.
Responding to a question about the report, Huang remarked, “we can only be in service of a market if the country wants us to be.” He added: “We probably contributed more to the China market than most countries have. And I’m disappointed with what I see. But they have larger agendas to work out between China and the United States, and I’m understanding of that.”
Huang described Nvidia’s China business over the past several years as “a bit of a roller coaster.” He told reporters in London that analysts have been advised to exclude China from forecasts: “The reason for that is because that’s largely going to be within the discussions of the United States government and Chinese government.”
Nvidia has already faced restrictions from Washington, which limited exports of its AI chips — including the H20, a lower-powered server chip — on national security grounds. In August, the White House announced that President Donald Trump and Huang had reached a deal granting Nvidia export licenses, with 15% of Chinese H20 sales directed to the U.S. government.
The latest move marks another setback for Nvidia in China. Earlier this week, the State Administration for Market Regulation launched an antitrust investigation into Nvidia’s acquisition of Mellanox, an Israeli networking technology firm.
Huang, traveling with Trump on his state visit to the U.K., underscored the significance of China’s AI sector despite geopolitical strains. On Tuesday, Nvidia unveiled a £11 billion ($15 billion) investment in U.K. AI infrastructure, joining Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce in announcing major commitments to the country’s AI development.