Nvidia says the U.S. government is going ahead with export controls that will limit sales to China of one of its most advanced semiconductor chips used to power artificial intelligence system.
In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, Nvidia said it expects the controls to cost them about $5.5 billion in charges due to the H20 chip inventory and prior sales now covered by the new restrictions and which they will not be able to sell.
Earlier this month, NPR had reported that the US government had paused long-planned restrictions on the sale of these advanced chips after Nvidia's founder attended a $1 million-a-head dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
The same day as NPR's story was published, Nvidia's disclosure says U.S. authorities told them there would be export controls on the H20, which require Nvidia to apply for licenses each time it wants to sell the chip to customers in China. This week, U.S. authorities also told the company the controls would be effective indefinitely.
Nvidia did not tell many of its major customers about the controls for days, according to Reuters.
The company also announced this week it would build its first two supercomputer factories in the U.S., a $500 billion investment the White House hailed as part of President Trump's "relentless pursuit of an American manufacturing renaissance."
The H20 chip had been the most advanced chip Chinese customers could still purchase from Nvidia, after U.S. controls starting in 2022 cut off other chips which have artificial intelligence applications. Nvidia specifically designed the H20 to comply with American export constraints. Analysts point out the chip is very similar to another Nvidia chip, the H100, that was export controlled earlier.
Nvidia's founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been quietly lobbying the Trump administration. China has been one of the company's biggest markets, and it recorded more than $17 billion in sales there in 2024.
The Commerce Department and Nvidia did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Nvidia's stock sank by as much as 7% during trading on Wednesday.
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