Commerce Department Seeks to Block Chinese Access to High-End Nvidia Chips

Gina Raimondo, secretary of commerce, said her department is talking with chipmaker Nvidia to prevent it from selling advanced semiconductors to Chinese companies.

In an interview with Reuters, she explained that the Department of Commerce cannot allow China to access high-performance chips for training frontier artificial intelligence models, Yahoo Finance reported.

Raimondo clarified that Nvidia is permitted to offer China less powerful AI chips for commercial applications. She added that Jensen Huang, the chipmaker’s CEO, has expressed willingness to follow her department’s rules.

The restrictions on Nvidia are part of an ongoing Biden administration effort to curtail advanced semiconductor sales to China. President Joe Biden recently tightened export controls on such chips, incorporating new rules implemented by Japan and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department has asked for more funding to support the Bureau of Industry and Security, the body responsible for imposing export restrictions. According to Raimondo, BIS has been unable to hire more personnel despite an increasing workload.