Mint Quick Edit | What explains China’s Nvidia chip ban?
China has upped the ante in its trade tussle with the US. As reported, China’s internet regulator has ordered Chinese tech companies not to buy artificial intelligence (AI) chips from Nvidia.
This may be a move to protect its own semiconductor industry, though its level of sophistication is a mystery.
Earlier, China’s antitrust authority had accused Nvidia of rule violations, though the US-based chip-maker has denied wrongdoing.
These actions sit oddly with China’s presumed appetite for American AI chips. As part of a recent mini-deal between the US and China, Washington was to ease some export barriers erected to keep high-end AI chips from reaching China. But then, US curbs on top-end chips remain, while the deal covered a few lower-order ones.
Does China deem these replaceable? Or has the AI success of DeepSeek, which reportedly found a workaround by using modest chip set-ups, inspired Beijing to resist all but top-end US chips in the interest of self-sufficiency? It’s hard to tell.
But Beijing now seems a lot more confident of doing without Nvidia’s wares. As the US and China inch closer to a deal on TikTok, the real story may be how well China is doing with chip development.
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