AP – Shares in computer chipmakers slumped after Nvidia said tighter United States (US) government controls on exports of computer chips used for artificial intelligence will cost it an extra USD5.5 billion.
The company, which announced that it will produce its artificial intelligence (AI) super computers in the US for the first time, said the government told it that its H20 integrated circuits and others of a similar bandwidth would be subject to the licensing requirements for the “indefinite future”.
In a regulatory filing, Nvidia said the government said the controls addressed risks that the products “may be used in or diverted to, a supercomputer in China”.
Shares of Nvidia and rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices each fell about six per cent in morning trading.
AMD said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that the export controls could potentially result in a charge of around USD800 million in “inventory, purchase commitments and related reserves”.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that its new export licensing requirements pertain to Nvidia’s H20, AMD’s MI308 chips “and their equivalents”. Commerce said it is “committed to acting on the President’s directive to safeguard our national and economic security”.
Asian technology giants also saw big declines. Testing equipment maker Advantest’s shares fell 6.7 per cent in Tokyo, Disco Corp. lost 7.6 per cent and Taiwan’s TSMC dropped 2.4 per cent.
