China just delivered another devastating blow to Nvidia's struggling business in the world's second-largest economy. The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered major tech companies including ByteDance and Alibaba to stop buying Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D chips, prompting a disappointed response from CEO Jensen Huang who called the situation 'a bit of a rollercoaster.'
The chip war between the US and China just claimed another casualty. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is expressing disappointment after reports surfaced that China has effectively banned major tech companies from purchasing the company's AI semiconductors, dealing another blow to what was once a crucial revenue stream.
The Financial Times reported Wednesday that China's Cyberspace Administration ordered companies including TikTok parent ByteDance and e-commerce giant Alibaba to stop buying Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D chips - semiconductors specifically designed for the Chinese market. The directive represents a dramatic escalation in the ongoing tech tensions between Washington and Beijing.
"We can only be in service of a market if the country wants us to be," Huang told reporters Wednesday during a press briefing in London. "We probably contributed more to the China market than most countries have. And I'm disappointed with what I see, but they have larger agendas to work out between China and the United States."
The ban comes at a particularly awkward time for Nvidia. The company had been navigating an increasingly complex regulatory environment in China, with Huang describing the experience as "a bit of a rollercoaster." Just months ago, the Trump administration struck a deal allowing Nvidia to receive export licenses in exchange for 15% of Chinese H20 chip sales going to the US government.
Now that arrangement appears meaningless. Huang has already told financial analysts not to factor China into their forecasts, acknowledging that the company's business there depends entirely on negotiations between the US and Chinese governments. "The reason for that is because that's largely going to be within the discussions of the United States government and Chinese government," he explained.
The timing couldn't be worse for Nvidia's China operations. Earlier this week, China's State Administration for Market Regulation opened an anti-monopoly investigation into the company over its acquisition of Mellanox, an Israeli networking technology firm. The probe adds regulatory pressure just as the company faces this new purchasing ban.
Ironically, Huang made these comments while accompanying President Trump on his UK state visit, where announced a massive £11 billion ($15 billion) investment in British AI infrastructure. The company joined , , and Salesforce in pledging billions to UK tech development - a stark contrast to its shrinking presence in China.
