Chinese firms reserve Nvidia chips outside China
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Sowetan
Illustrative image · panumas nikhomkhai · Pexels · Licence PexelsChinese artificial intelligence companies are seeking to reserve Nvidia computing capacity in data centres outside China, fearing tighter US controls. A bill passed by the House of Representatives in January, by 369 votes to 22, would give the Commerce Department power to regulate remote access to restricted technologies, according to three sources cited by Sowetan.
Chinese artificial intelligence companies are seeking to reserve or lease computing capacity equipped with Nvidia processors in data centres outside China, in order to retain access to advanced chips despite US restrictions, according to three people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters. A major Chinese cloud provider has internally considered securing Nvidia capacity abroad, while companies have contacted data centre operators and smaller laboratories are considering similar steps in Southeast Asia.
These companies fear that the controversy surrounding Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, will accelerate adoption of the US Remote Access Security Act, a bill that would give the Commerce Department power to regulate remote access to technologies subject to restrictions. The US House of Representatives passed the bill in January by 369 votes to 22, and its consideration by the Senate is still awaited, Reuters reports.
The search for capacity abroad aims to preserve access to the computing power needed to train and operate large artificial intelligence models. It comes as the Huang affair fuels tensions over Nvidia chips and as 240,000 Nvidia chips are reported to have been shipped to China, according to information previously published by our media.
