NVIDIA warns: Export restrictions could make China the AI ​​superpower!

NVIDIA warns: Export restrictions could make China the AI ​​superpower!

USA - The effects of the US export restrictions on the chip industry are now reaching a new level. Nvidia estimates the lost sales through these restrictions on far -reaching $ 15 billion. In addition, the company must record a depreciation amount of $ 5.5 billion for unsalable inventory. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, commented in the "Stratechery" podcast and made it clear that, despite the hurdles, China was not prevented from further developing artificial intelligence (AI). This could lead to an independent AI industry in China in the long term that will compete with the American industry.

The US government has already taken the first steps under the previous administration to prevent the sale of the latest high-performance chips to China. At the moment, NVIDIA can only deliver a slower version of her chips, the H20, to Chinese companies, but since mid-April these H20 chips have also fallen under the strict export restrictions. Huang warned that the technical reduction of the chips could not go beyond the H20 version.

new trade restrictions and their consequences

From October 18, 2023, new, tightened rules for the export of US chip technology to China apply. In particular, the Nvidia H800 and A800 chips, which are essential for the learning of AI, are affected by these regulations. With these measures, the US government intends to prevent China's access to American top technology that could use militarily.

nvidia had previously developed the H800 and A800 versions because the H100 and A100 chips already fell under the export ban. It remains unclear how many of the orders worth five billion can be met before the new rules come into force. The announcement of the new export rules immediately caused a decline in the Nvidia share by almost five percent.

The geopolitical context of technology exports

The restrictions on AI technologies were further tightened under the bid administration. Only close US allies like Germany enjoy unrestricted access. These measures aim to ensure that the exported chips are only used for peaceful purposes. GPUs, which are essential for a variety of AI applications, can be required in large numbers. For example, the AI ​​tool Chatgpt needed thousands of such chips.

18 countries were exempted from these restrictive measures, including European countries such as France, Great Britain and the Netherlands. The export restrictions are based on the total calculation performance (total processing performance) of the chips and should be observed by the companies to make the smuggling difficult and ensure proper use. These new regulations that come into force in the coming months will be followed with great attention because they can have far -reaching consequences for the chip industry and the global technology trade.

It remains to be seen which long-term consequences these trade restrictions will have for NVIDIA and the entire US chip industry. Both NVIDIA and other companies such as Intel and AMD had already accepted a decline in their share prices, while the US government continued to emphasize the leading role in AI development.