China has issued guidance requiring new data-center projects with any state funding to use only domestically made AI chips, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Projects less than 30% complete must remove installed foreign chips or cancel purchases, while more advanced builds will be reviewed case by case, as per the same exclusive Reuters report.
The reported directive would block Nvidia’s H20 and curb use of higher-end B200/H200 parts accessed via gray markets; domestic suppliers named in the report include Huawei, Cambricon, MetaX and Moore Threads, Reuters reported.
A Reuters review of government tenders found more than $100 billion in state funding has gone into AI data-center projects since 2021. One northwestern province project using Nvidia chips has been suspended, the outlet reported.
For context, recently, President Donald Trump said the United States “will not let anybody have” NVIDIA’s “most advanced” chips “other than the United States,” in an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes.
