The United States has expanded export restrictions on advanced Nvidia artificial intelligence chips, extending beyond China to encompass other regions, including select Middle Eastern countries, according to a regulatory filing by the company.
Nvidia disclosed in the filing that during the second quarter of fiscal year 2024, the US government informed them of additional licensing requirements for a subset of A100 and H100 products destined for specific customers and regions, which now includes certain Middle Eastern nations. However, the filing did not specify which Middle Eastern countries are affected.
In their most recent fiscal quarter ending July 30, Nvidia generated a significant portion of its $13.5 billion in sales from the United States, China, and Taiwan. Sales from all other countries combined accounted for about 13.9 percent of their revenue, with no specific revenue breakdown provided for the Middle East.
Nvidia has not yet commented on the matter, and the US Commerce Department, typically responsible for administering new export licensing requirements, has not responded to requests for comment.
A year ago, Nvidia was instructed by US officials to halt exports of the same two computing chips used for AI work to China, a move that was perceived as potentially hindering Chinese firms’ progress in advanced areas like image recognition. This decision also marked a significant escalation in the US government’s actions targeting China’s technological capabilities, amidst rising tensions concerning the fate of Taiwan, a key hub for chip manufacturing, including those of Nvidia and many other major chip companies.
The August 28 securities filing did not provide specific details about which countries are newly restricted from receiving these chips.
