Nvidia working closely with US to ensure new chips for China are compliant with curbs

By Fanny Potkin

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Nvidia is working closely with the U.S. government to ensure new chips for the Chinese market are compliant with export curbs, CEO Jensen Huang said on Wednesday.

The California-based artificial intelligence chip designer has commanded more than 90% share of China’s $7 billion AI chip market, but analysts have said new U.S. curbs on chip exports are likely to create opportunities for Chinese rivals to make inroads.

Reuters last month reported Nvidia (NASDAQ:) had told customers in China it was delaying the launch of a new China-focused AI chip until the first quarter of next year.

Huang declined to confirm the Reuters article.

“Nvidia has been working very closely with the U.S. government to create products that comply with its regulations,” Huang told a news conference in Singapore.

“Our plan now is to continue to work with the government to come up with a new set of products that comply with the new regulations that have certain limits.”

He added Nvidia needs to seek the advice of the market and the process is ongoing, adding that Huawei was a “formidable” competitor.

Nvidia warned during its November earnings that it expects a steep drop in fourth-quarter sales in China in the wake of the new U.S. rules. 

Huang noted that China’s revenue contribution to Nvidia has been traditionally around 20% but it was hard to predict how much that would change with the new U.S. export restrictions.

Separately, he said Nvidia was in talks with Singapore about potential big investments and working with the city-state to help develop its own large language model, Sealion.

Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) announced on Monday a S$70 million ($52 million) initiative to develop Southeast Asia’s first large language model.

Huang noted Singapore had a vibrant AI ecosystem and its role as a major data centre for many Asian markets.