Nvidia Says U.S.-Chip Cloud Services Help American AI Developers Compete

Five people familiar with the matter said Nvidia requires cloud partners to sell at least 51% of services to non-Chinese businesses in new contracts, a condition that may alter customer access to global AI computing capacity.

The five people said the requirement applies only to future deals, leaving existing agreements untouched. It sets a majority share of services for customers outside China and is aimed at reducing partners’ business with Chinese clients.

Nvidia has neither confirmed nor denied the reported requirement. The company said data centers and cloud services built with U.S. chips help American model and application developers compete in global markets.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she was not familiar with the matter. She called for a business environment that is fair, transparent and nondiscriminatory for businesses in China and other countries.

The reported rule focuses on where buyers are based, making customer location a condition in cloud service sales. Any resulting change in customer mix could affect the global market for AI computing capacity, the broader industry context for the contract threshold.