Nvidia has advised some cloud customers to take on less business from Chinese companies, according to The Information, which cited three people familiar with the matter. The guidance is intended to encourage cloud providers, including neoclouds backed by Nvidia, to diversify their customer base.
The request is not mandatory and applies to future contracts rather than existing agreements. Cloud customers have also been asked to disclose the identities of end users accessing the chips. The Financial Times reported that Nvidia communicated the instructions verbally through sales representatives and regional teams.
The move addresses a gap in U.S. export controls. While the rules restrict chip shipments, they generally do not cover remote access through cloud services. Chinese AI developers can therefore rent computing capacity at data centers abroad to use advanced Nvidia chips without importing the hardware themselves.
U.S. authorities have been examining whether Chinese AI companies are accessing chips through foreign data centers. That scrutiny followed allegations involving Moonshot AI, the developer of the Kimi chatbot.
Sources: The Decoder.