Nvidia has reportedly asked data center customers to limit the share of their business with Chinese companies to 49%, leaving at least 51% for non-Chinese customers. The Financial Times reported that Nvidia sales staff and regional teams communicated the policy to customers, but that it has not been formally set out in public documentation.
The reported restriction applies to data centers worldwide, not just facilities in Asia. It concerns new and future contracts, and does not affect existing Nvidia hardware leasing agreements, according to the report.
In a statement, Nvidia said American chips provide the foundation needed for U.S. model and application developers to compete globally. It added that current U.S. policy encourages cloud providers to build on American infrastructure and serve customers from around the world.
The reported policy comes amid U.S.-China tensions over artificial intelligence and follows restrictions on which companies can buy Nvidia chips. The report says the new limit could add pressure to cloud providers competing for contracts and potentially affect the scale of future data center operations.
Sources: Tom's Hardware.