Nvidia cracks down on overseas cloud AI GPU rentals for China
Nvidia may cap cloud partners’ Chinese business at 49% as Chinese firms buy up more than 1 million gaming and workstation GPUs.
Nvidia is tightening its rules regarding overseas cloud AI GPU rentals for Chinese companies, according to the Financial Times. The company has instructed its cloud partners worldwide that at least 51% of their services must be provided to non-Chinese firms. In response, Chinese entities have purchased over 1 million Nvidia gaming and workstation cards this year to compensate for the shortage.
A B300 rack, priced at approximately $600,000 in international markets, reportedly sold for $2.8 million in China last month. Chinese customers have also ordered more than 6 million Nvidia's export-compliant RTX Pro 5500 cards, which is twice the production capacity Nvidia could manufacture in 2027.
Chinese groups have heavily relied on overseas leases for advanced AI work, with data centers in Southeast Asia being the biggest clients. If data centers fail to find non-Chinese clients, they may be forced to reduce their supply. Nvidia's new rule, while not confirmed or denied, could help ease criticism from U.S. lawmakers as Chinese demand for AI chips grows.
Existing deals and leases are not affected, but new ones must comply. Nvidia has reduced the number of authorized Asian buyers by more than half, leading Chinese groups to lease instead of buying. Fleet Intelligence tracking is now required for Southeast Asian providers that wish to become Nvidia Cloud Partners.
Companies like Moonshot have explored renting capacity from European data centers hosting Nvidia GPUs, specifically Blackwell systems, which are subject to export controls and cannot be sold in China. Talks for clusters of 8,000 or more Blackwell GPUs in Europe have taken place following the White House's announcement that Moonshot had accessed Blackwell chips through a facility in Thailand.
Moonshot and other Chinese companies, such as Tencent, ByteDance, and Alibaba, are actively seeking Nvidia chips for AI training. The shortage of domestic AI chip supply, coupled with U.S. export controls, has led Chinese firms to seek alternative solutions.
Written by urgent.news from Tom's Hardware's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
