Technology

China enjoins tech firms not to buy Nvidia AI chips. Huang: 'Disappointed, I will talk to Trump'

Beijing aims to favour local chip manufacturers, which government officials say are now competitive in performance

17 September 2025

Nvidia riprenderà a breve vendite in Cina di un chip per l'IA

3' min read

China's Internet regulator has ordered the country's largest technology companies to stop buying artificial intelligence chips from Nvidia and to terminate existing orders, as Beijing intensifies efforts to strengthen its domestic semiconductor industry and compete with the US. This was stated in a preview published by the Financial Times.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he intended to discuss the issue with President Trump at a state banquet in the UK and said he was disappointed by the situation and had no reaction, adding: 'I think we could only serve a market if the country wanted us to'.

This week, the Cyberspace Administration of China (Cac) ordered companies such as ByteDance and Alibaba to stop testing and ordering the RTX Pro 6000D. Nvidia's bespoke product for the country unveiled two months ago.

Several companies had indicated that they would order tens of thousands of RTX Pro 6000Ds and had started tests and verifications with Nvidia's server suppliers before the CAC ordered them to stop work,

Beijing aims at a local supply chain

The ban goes beyond the regulators' previous guidance, which focused on H20, Nvidia's other chip intended exclusively for China and widely used for artificial intelligence. Beijing is pressurising Chinese technology companies to break their dependence on Nvidia in order to obtain an independent semiconductor supply chain so that they can compete in the artificial intelligence race with the US.

"The message is now loud and clear," said an executive from one of the technology companies. "Previously, there was hope for a renewal of Nvidia supplies if the geopolitical situation improved. Now everyone is committed to building a national system."

Nvidia started producing custom-made chips for the Chinese market after the US government of then-President Joe Biden banned the company from exporting its most powerful products to China, hoping to curb Beijing's progress in the field of artificial intelligence.

Beijing regulators recently summoned domestic chip manufacturers such as Huawei and Cambricon, as well as Alibaba and search engine giant Baidu, which produce their own semiconductors, to learn how their products compare to Nvidia's chips destined for the Chinese market. Officials concluded that Chinese artificial intelligence processors were comparable or superior to Nvidia products allowed under US export controls.

Cosa ci raccontano i conti record di Nvidia?

The Financial Times reported last month that Chinese chipmakers were looking to triple the country's total production of artificial intelligence processors next year. "The general view now is that there will be enough domestic supply to meet demand without having to buy Nvidia chips," said an insider.

Nvidia unveiled the RTX Pro 6000D in July, during its CEO Jensen Huang's visit to Beijing, when the US company also claimed that Washington was easing its previous ban on the H20 chip.

Chinese regulators, including the CAC, have warned technology companies against buying Nvidia's H20, asking them to justify the purchase against domestic products. The RTX Pro 6000D, which the company said could be used in automated production, was the last product Nvidia was allowed to sell in China in significant volumes.

Record di Nvidia: prima azienda a valere più 4mila miliardi di dollari

Huang "disappointed"

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he was "disappointed" after the Financial Times reported that the Cyberspace Administration of China (Cac) had ordered Chinese companies, such as ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, and Alibaba, not to purchase Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D chip, which was made specifically for the country. In response to a question about the Ft article, reports Cnbc, Huang stated that 'we can only serve a market if the country wants us to'. 'We have probably contributed more to the Chinese market than most countries have. And I'm disappointed with what I see," Huang said. "But they have more ambitious goals to achieve between China and the US, and I understand that." "We have advised all financial analysts not to include China" in their financial forecasts, Huang told reporters at a press conference in London. "The reason is that this will largely be the subject of discussions between the US and Chinese governments."

Regardless of the current geopolitical situation, Huang emphasised the importance of the artificial intelligence sector in China. "The Chinese market is important. It is vast. The technology industry is vibrant. We have been serving it for 30 years,' said the Nvidia chief. He added that Nvidia "will continue to support the Chinese government and Chinese companies as they wish, and of course we will continue to support the US government as they address these geopolitical issues".