Beijing has introduced energy efficiency rules for the use of advanced chips that would prevent Chinese companies from buying Nvidia’s best-selling processors in the country if implemented strictly.
The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, is advising Chinese groups to use chips that meet stringent requirements in new data centres and expansion of existing facilities, according to documents reviewed and analysed by Financial Times.
Nvidia’s H20 chip — less powerful than its top-range graphics processing units but tailored to meet Washington’s export controls — currently fails to satisfy the commission’s new rules, according to the documents.