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China reportedly bans tech companies from buying NVIDIA's AI chips

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has reportedly banned the country's local tech companies from purchasing NVIDIA's newest AI chip made for the region. According to the Financial Times, the internet regulator told Chinese tech companies, including ByteDance and Alibaba, to cancel their orders for and to stop testing NVIDIA's RTX Pro 6000D. After receiving the directive from CAC, the companies reportedly told their suppliers to stop all activities related to the GPU. As Reuters notes, the ban is stronger than the "guidance" the regulator issued against the company's older H20 chips for the country. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang is disappointed by the ban, the BBC reports. "There are a lot of places we can't go to, and that's fine," he told reporters. He also said he would "support the US" as it resolves its geopolitical issues with China. 
Chinese companies had previously indicated that they would be ordering and testing tens of thousands of the AI chip based on NVIDIA's Blackwell architecture. Reuters recently reported, however, that it has received lukewarm demand and that some tech firms decided not to put in orders for the product altogether. Some of the companies are apparently holding out for NVIDIA's B30A, which is a more powerful model, to be approved for export by US authorities. The Times says Chinese regulators also recently concluded that local-made AI chips are now comparable to or have even exceeded the counterparts NVIDIA is selling in their country. They reportedly gathered domestic chipmakers, including Huawei and Baidu, to ask for a report on how their products compared against NVIDIA's. 
If you'll recall, the US put an export restriction on NVIDIA's H20 AI chips in April, out of concerns that China could use it to develop AI tech for its military. In July, the US government allowed the company to export the chips again, reportedly after closing a deal that would give it 15 percent of the sales. Huang also introduced the RTX Pro 6000D in Beijing during his visit at the time. It wasn't the comeback NVIDIA was hoping for, however. Chinese regulators issued a guidance, dissuading local companies from purchasing the H20 chips, allegedly because they were insulted by statements made by US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. By the end of August, The Information reported that the company asked its suppliers to halt production related to the H20. 
This ban comes days after another Chinese regulator accused NVIDIA of violating China's antitrust laws over its acquisition of chipmaker Mellanox. The State Administration for Market Regulation said the company breached both national regulations and the conditions China set when it originally approved the acquisition. Those terms stated that NVIDIA must continue supplying GPUs and other products to the country and adhering to "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory principles"This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/china-reportedly-bans-tech-companies-from-buying-nvidias-ai-chips-120143740.html?src=rss