US export ban on some advanced AI chips to hit China tech majors

A US order to ban exports of some advanced chips to China is likely to hit almost any major tech company running public clouds or advanced artificial intelligence training modules in the country, experts said.

Chip designer Nvidia Corp said on Wednesday that US officials told it to stop exporting two top computing chips for AI work to China.

Advanced Micro Devices also said it had received new license requirements that will stop its advanced AI chip called MI250 from being exported to China.

Shu Jueting, a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson, said on Thursday that Beijing opposes the measures, saying they undermine the rights of Chinese companies and threaten to disrupt global supply chains.

The orders underscore deepening US-China tensions over access to advanced chip technology.

"We're going from blocking certain US companies from supplying to a certain company, as was the case with Huawei, to banning certain US products from selling to China period," said Jay Goldberg, CEO of D2D Advisory, a finance and strategy consulting firm.

The worst-case scenario would be Washington broadening the ban to block contract chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Samsung from making chips for Chinese chip designers, Jefferies' analysts said in a note.