Nvidia Photo: VCG

US officials are considering caps on the number of artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators Nvidia Corp can export to any one Chinese company, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. The reported move may be a "hunger marketing" tactic, reflecting rising anxiety over lack of sales of relevant Nvidia chips in the Chinese market despite US approval, a Chinese expert said.  

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Bloomberg report said the US administration has talked about limiting Chinese firms to buying 75,000 of Nvidia's H200 chips each and the report added the move would further constrain the chipmaker's reentry into a crucial market. Shipments of Advanced Micro Devices Inc's MI325 chips, which have similar capabilities, would also count toward a customer's cap, the people said, per report. 

News that more conditions may be attached to sales of the H200 chips only underlined the growing anxiety among some in the US who seek to contain China's technological rise while still profiting from the Chinese market and increasing Chinese companies' reliance on US technology, Ma Jihua, a veteran tech industry analyst, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Ma said that given the current development trajectory of China's domestic chip industry, any attempt to contain China's tech development through restrictions on certain chips will not work.

Bloomberg reported that total shipments to China under the new arrangement could still reach as many as a million units, in line with an upper bound the US administration set earlier in the regulatory process. Still, the per-customer restrictions would complicate an already murky picture of when - and to what extent - Nvidia can return to the largest market for its products, Bloomberg reported.

Nvidia has yet to sell any of its H200 chips to China, despite Washington's earlier move to ease export restrictions on the AI processors, Reuters reported last week, citing a senior US export control official, a development that analysts said highlights the mounting costs of persistent US policy uncertainty.

Sources cited by Bloomberg also tied the new rule under consideration to a reported upcoming visit to China by US President Donald Trump in the coming weeks, when the US is hoping to strike an agreement for H200 exports to nonmilitary Chinese companies, per Bloomberg.

"Be it hunger marketing, or a negotiation strategy for the reported impending talks between the two sides," pressuring China through chip restrictions has not and will not work, Ma told the Global Times on Tuesday.

In terms of market demand and overall development pathways, Ma said many Chinese companies' urgent demand for computing power has already eased, with relatively substantial reserves. Meanwhile, domestic chip manufacturers are steadily stepping up to fill the gap.

"However, in a deeper sense, the US government's frequent interventions in chip sales have made it clear to users that policy uncertainty could halt sales of advanced chips at any time, creating significant supply chain security risks that deter Chinese buyers," Ma said, adding that Nvidia still faces security issues that remain unresolved.

In July 2025, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) summoned Nvidia over security risks concerning its H20 AI chip sold to China. The company was asked to give explanations and submit relevant proof materials on this issue. This is aimed at safeguarding cyberspace and data security for Chinese users per laws on network and data security and personal information protection, according to the CAC.

Meanwhile, Chinese officials have repeatedly slammed the US attempt to politicizing tech and trade issues.

"China's position on opposing the politicization and weaponization of tech and trade issues, and on malicious blockades and suppression against China, is consistent and clear. Such practices disrupt the stability of global industrial and supply chains and are in no one's interests," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in August 2025, when asked to comment about reports on US semiconductor export controls and related trade issues.