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Business Standard
16 hours ago
- Business
- Business Standard
China asks companies not to use Nvidia H20 chips in a new guidance
By Mackenzie Hawkins and Ian King China has urged local companies to avoid using Nvidia Corp.'s H20 processors, particularly for government-related purposes, complicating the chipmaker's attempts to recoup billions in lost China revenue as well as the Trump administration's unprecedented push to turn those sales into a US government windfall. Over the past few weeks, Chinese authorities have sent notices to a range of firms discouraging use of the less-advanced semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named discussing sensitive information. The guidance was particularly strong against the use of H20s for any government or national security-related work by state enterprises or private companies, the people said. In addition to Nvidia, Beijing's overall push affects AI accelerators from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., one of the people said, though it's unclear whether any letters specifically mentioned AMD's MI308 chip. Both companies recently secured Washington's approval to resume lower-end AI chip sales to China, on the controversial and legally questionable condition that they give the US government a 15 per cent cut of the related revenue. Now, Nvidia and AMD face the challenge that their Chinese customers are under Beijing's pressure not to make those purchases. Some of Beijing's letters to companies included a series of questions, according to one of the people, such as why they buy Nvidia H20 chips over local alternatives, whether that's a necessary choice given domestic options, and whether they've found any security issues in the Nvidia hardware. The notices coincide with state media reports that cast doubt on the security and reliability of H20 processors. Chinese regulators have raised those concerns directly with Nvidia, which has repeatedly denied that its chips contain such vulnerabilities. Right now, China's most stringent chip guidance is limited to sensitive applications, a situation that bears similarities to the way Beijing restricted Tesla Inc. vehicles and Apple Inc. iPhones in certain institutions and locations over security concerns. China's government also at one point barred the use of Micron Technology Inc. chips in critical infrastructure. Still, it's possible that Beijing may extend its heavier-handed Nvidia and AMD guidance to a wider range of settings, according to one person with direct knowledge of the deliberations, who said that those conversations are in early stages. AMD declined to comment, while Nvidia said in a statement that 'the H20 is not a military product or for government infrastructure.' China has ample supplies of domestic chips, Nvidia said, and 'won't and never has relied on American chips for government operations.' China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Cyberspace Administration of China did not respond to faxed requests for comment on this story, which is based on interviews with more than a half-dozen people familiar with Beijing's policy discussions. The White House did not respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours. The Chinese government's posture could make it more difficult for Nvidia and AMD to sell their hardware into the world's largest market for semiconductors. It also raises questions about the Trump administration's explanation for why the US is allowing those exports mere months after effectively banning such sales. Multiple senior US officials have said their policy reversal was part of a trade accord with China, but Beijing has publicly indicated that the resumed H20 shipments were not part of any bilateral deal. China's recent notices to companies suggest that the Asian country may not have desired such a concession from Washington in the first place. Beijing's concerns are twofold. For starters, Chinese officials are worried that Nvidia chips could have location-tracking and remote shutdown capabilities — a suggestion that Nvidia has vehemently denied. Still, Trump officials are actively exploring whether location-tracking could be used to help curtail suspected smuggling of restricted components into China, and lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require location verification for advanced AI chips. Second, Beijing is intensely focused on developing its domestic chip capabilities, and wants Chinese companies to shift away from Western chips in favor of local offerings. Officials have previously urged Chinese firms to choose domestic semiconductors over Nvidia H20 processors, Bloomberg reported last September, and have introduced energy efficiency standards that the H20 chip does not meet. But Beijing has stopped short of outright banning the hardware, which Nvidia designed specifically for Chinese customers to abide by years of US curbs on sales of advanced chips to the Asian country. The H20 chip has less computational power than Nvidia's top offerings, but its strong memory bandwidth is quite well suited to the inference stage of AI development, when models recognize patterns and draw conclusions. That's made it a desirable product to companies like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. in China, where domestic chip champion Huawei Technologies Co. is struggling to produce enough advanced components to meet market demand. By one estimate from Biden officials — who considered but did not implement controls on H20 sales — losing access to that Nvidia chip would make it three to six times more expensive for Chinese companies to run inference on advanced AI models. 'Beijing appears to be using regulatory uncertainty to create a captive market sufficiently sized to absorb Huawei's supply, while still allowing purchases of H20s to meet actual demands,' said Lennart Heim, an AI-focused researcher at RAND, of China's push for companies to avoid American AI chips. 'This signals that domestic alternatives remain inadequate even as China pressures foreign suppliers.' President Donald Trump on Monday called the H20 chip 'obsolete,' saying that China 'already has it in a different form.' That echoed previous statements by officials in his administration, who defended the decision to resume H20 exports on the grounds that Huawei already offers comparable chips to the H20. The US should keep the Chinese AI ecosystem reliant on less-advanced American technology for as long as possible, these officials argue, in order to deprive Huawei of the revenue and know-how that would come from a broader customer base. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other Trump officials have also claimed that the H20 move was part of a deal to improve American access to Chinese rare-earth minerals — despite the Trump team's previous assertions that such an arrangement was not on the table. 'As the Chinese deliver their magnets, then the H20s will come off,' Lutnick said last month. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in late July that the magnet issue had been 'solved.' The first Nvidia H20 and AMD MI308 licenses arrived a bit over a week after Bessent's declaration — after Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang met with the president and both companies agreed to share their China revenue with the US government.
Business Insider
13-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Nvidia CEO says Chinese military unlikely to use its AI chips, Bloomberg says
Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said the U.S. government does not need to be concerned about its technology being used by the Chinses military, Ian King of Bloomberg reports. Huang said the Chinese military will avoid using U.S. technology due to the risks associated with doing so. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week.
Bloomberg
25-06-2025
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
Promises to Spend Billions on US Chip Revival Still Depend on a Fickle Market
Welcome to Tech In Depth, our daily newsletter about the business of tech from Bloomberg's journalists around the world. Today, Ian King reports on the promises from chipmakers to spend money on manufacturing plants in the US. Uber-Waymo expansion: Uber began offering customers in Atlanta rides in self-driving cars from Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo, making it the second market where the companies are joining together rather than competing.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nvidia, Samsung Plan Investments in Robotics Startup Skild AI
(Bloomberg) -- Samsung Electronics Co. and Nvidia Corp. will take minority stakes in Skild AI Inc. as they seek to bolster their work in the emerging consumer robotics industry. Shuttered NY College Has Alumni Fighting Over Its Future Trump's Military Parade Has Washington Bracing for Tanks and Weaponry NYC Renters Brace for Price Hikes After Broker-Fee Ban NY Long Island Rail Service Resumes After Grand Central Fire NYC Mayoral Candidates All Agree on Building More Housing. But Where? The South Korean tech leader is making a $10 million investment in Skild, which develops software for robots, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Santa Clara, California chipmaker is putting in $25 million, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing unannounced plans. The financing is part of the company's Series B funding round, which will value the company at around $4.5 billion and is led by a $100 million investment from Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. Internally, Samsung views its Skild investment as a way to keep visibility into the startup and its talent without needing to make a significant commitment. Another reason: to keep pace with other South Korean conglomerates like LG, Hanwha and Mirae Asset, which all have divisions putting between $5 million to $10 million into Skild. Nvidia has begun to push the idea of 'physical AI' — meaning robots and autonomous vehicles — becoming a significant future revenue driver as the technology matures. The chipmaker has semiconductors, software and services aimed at speeding up the deployment of robots that can think for themselves. Samsung considers some aspects of Skild's solutions inferior to others in the market, said some of the people. Representatives for Samsung and Nvidia declined to comment. A representative for Skild didn't respond to an inquiry. Robotics are quickly becoming a major area of future growth for the world's technology companies, with Apple Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google all investing heavily in the space. Tesla Inc., meanwhile, has long been preparing to ship its Optimus robot. A few months ago, Samsung took a minority stake in Physical Intelligence, which also develops underlying robotics algorithms, with a small investment. The startup has already raised around $400 million and was last valued at about $2.4 billion. Nvidia has invested in companies like Figure AI and Serve Robotics. Samsung already sells robot vacuums, but its ambitions go deeper to include humanoid robots and other household appliances. Later this year, in partnership will Google, it will launch the Ballie, a soccer-ball-sized machine that can project video onto walls. Samsung is also the largest shareholder of Rainbow Robotics, which makes humanoids. That company sits at the center of its work in the field. --With assistance from Ian King, Kate Clark and Yoolim Lee. New Grads Join Worst Entry-Level Job Market in Years The Spying Scandal Rocking the World of HR Software American Mid: Hampton Inn's Good-Enough Formula for World Domination The SEC Pinned Its Hack on a Few Hapless Day Traders. The Full Story Is Far More Troubling Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert Wants to Donate His Billions—and Walk Again ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nvidia, Samsung Plan Investments in Robotics Startup Skild AI
(Bloomberg) -- Samsung Electronics Co. and Nvidia Corp. will take minority stakes in Skild AI Inc. as they seek to bolster their work in the emerging consumer robotics industry. Shuttered NY College Has Alumni Fighting Over Its Future Trump's Military Parade Has Washington Bracing for Tanks and Weaponry NYC Renters Brace for Price Hikes After Broker-Fee Ban NY Long Island Rail Service Resumes After Grand Central Fire NYC Mayoral Candidates All Agree on Building More Housing. But Where? The South Korean tech leader is making a $10 million investment in Skild, which develops software for robots, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Santa Clara, California chipmaker is putting in $25 million, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing unannounced plans. The financing is part of the company's Series B funding round, which will value the company at around $4.5 billion and is led by a $100 million investment from Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. Internally, Samsung views its Skild investment as a way to keep visibility into the startup and its talent without needing to make a significant commitment. Another reason: to keep pace with other South Korean conglomerates like LG, Hanwha and Mirae Asset, which all have divisions putting between $5 million to $10 million into Skild. Nvidia has begun to push the idea of 'physical AI' — meaning robots and autonomous vehicles — becoming a significant future revenue driver as the technology matures. The chipmaker has semiconductors, software and services aimed at speeding up the deployment of robots that can think for themselves. Samsung considers some aspects of Skild's solutions inferior to others in the market, said some of the people. Representatives for Samsung and Nvidia declined to comment. A representative for Skild didn't respond to an inquiry. Robotics are quickly becoming a major area of future growth for the world's technology companies, with Apple Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google all investing heavily in the space. Tesla Inc., meanwhile, has long been preparing to ship its Optimus robot. A few months ago, Samsung took a minority stake in Physical Intelligence, which also develops underlying robotics algorithms, with a small investment. The startup has already raised around $400 million and was last valued at about $2.4 billion. Nvidia has invested in companies like Figure AI and Serve Robotics. Samsung already sells robot vacuums, but its ambitions go deeper to include humanoid robots and other household appliances. Later this year, in partnership will Google, it will launch the Ballie, a soccer-ball-sized machine that can project video onto walls. Samsung is also the largest shareholder of Rainbow Robotics, which makes humanoids. That company sits at the center of its work in the field. --With assistance from Ian King, Kate Clark and Yoolim Lee. New Grads Join Worst Entry-Level Job Market in Years The Spying Scandal Rocking the World of HR Software American Mid: Hampton Inn's Good-Enough Formula for World Domination The SEC Pinned Its Hack on a Few Hapless Day Traders. The Full Story Is Far More Troubling Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert Wants to Donate His Billions—and Walk Again ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
