NVIDA Says US Imposing New Export Licensing Requirement on its Chips

Chipmaker NVIDIA said the U.S. has imposed a “new license requirement, effective immediately,” on exports of certain chips to China (including Hong Kong) and Russia. The company’s Aug. 26 Securities and Exchange Commission filing said the government informed it that same day of the requirement, which covers the company’s A100 and H100 chips, as well as any future chips that meet performance thresholds equivalent to the A100.

“The USG indicated that the new license requirement will address the risk that the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a ‘military end use’ or ‘military end user’ in China and Russia. The Company does not sell products to customers in Russia,” NVIDIA said. The “new license requirement” may require NVIDIA to “transition certain operations out of China,” it said. NVIDIA “is engaged with the USG and is seeking exemptions for the Company’s internal development and support activities.” BIS didn't immediately comment.

AMD said the new requirement appears to also affect sales of some of its high-end chips to China and Russia, according to a report in The New York Times. NVIDIA and AMD did not immediately comment.