US chipmaker Nvidia Corp is planning to build a research and development center in Shanghai, the Financial Times reported yesterday, as tighter export restrictions imposed by Washington threaten sales in the key Chinese market.
The tougher US controls in recent years have prevented the California-based firm from selling certain AI chips — widely regarded as the most advanced in the world — to China.
As a result, it is now facing tougher competition from local players in the crucial market, including Huawei Technologies Co (華為).
Photo: Bloomberg
Nvidia boss Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) discussed plans to set up a research and development center in Shanghai with its mayor during a visit to the city last month, the newspaper reported, citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The site would “research the specific demands of Chinese customers and the complex technical requirements needed to satisfy Washington’s curbs,” the report said, adding that the “actual core design and production” would remain outside of China in order to comply with intellectual property transferal regulations.
Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Shanghai authorities.
During a visit to Beijing last month, Huang met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), telling him that he “looked favorably upon the potential of the Chinese economy,” Chinese state media Xinhua said.
Huang said he was “willing to continue to plough deeply into the Chinese market and play a positive role in promoting US-China trade cooperation,” Xinhua said.
The tightened US export curbs come as China’s economy wavers, with domestic consumers reluctant to spend and a prolonged property sector crisis weighing on growth.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has called for the country to become more self-reliant as uncertainty in the external environment increases.
Xi last month said that China should “strengthen basic research, focusing our efforts on overcoming challenges in key technologies such as advanced chips and core software, and building an autonomous artificial intelligence [AI] system,” Xinhua said.
Washington has expanded its efforts over the past few years to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, concerned that these can be used to advance Beijing’s military systems and otherwise undermine US dominance in AI.
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