Nvidia tells data centre partners to curb business with Chinese clients, FT reports

On November 3, the Financial Times reported that US chipmaker Nvidia is urging its data center partners to reduce business with Chinese clients. According to the FT, five sources confirmed the move, which requires Nvidia's cloud computing clients to allocate at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies. The restrictions only apply to future contracts, not current agreements, as per the report.

Nvidia declined to confirm or deny the claim, but stated that "datacenters and clouds built on American chips are the foundation that American model and application makers need to compete worldwide." The company added that "longstanding US policy encourages every cloud to build on American infrastructure and to win business everywhere they can."

They emphasized that "America cannot win the AI race unless America's AI infrastructure wins worldwide."

When questioned about the report, China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning claimed she was unaware of it. She reiterated China's stance that all parties should provide a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for companies from all countries, including Chinese firms. The ongoing AI race between China and the United States has been marred by accusations of technology theft and security threats.

Nvidia, currently the world's most valuable company, has benefited from the global push to build data centers equipped with advanced computer chips and hardware for AI systems.