Nvidia, the biggest chipmaker in the world, once held the crown of the most valuable company in the world, is in a bit of a shackle right now. Nvidia has worked for years to make an ecosystem where the whole world can buy AI or normal chips from them. However, that ecosystem is now in jeopardy. Nvidia is expecting to clock a whopping $10 billion in international sales this year and has had talks with dozens of people who can pour billions as an investment in developing supercomputers or generative AI. The people include kings, presidents, sheikhs and government ministers.
However, in Washington, officials believe that Nvidia’s global sales spree can empower adversaries, posing a threat to the United States and her interests. As a result, the Biden Administration is working on new rules and policies to tighten control over AI chip sales and turn them into a diplomatic tool.
Under the new framework, US allies will be able to buy the AI chips without any restriction, while the opposing nations will be banned from the trade altogether. The rest of the nations would receive quotas based on their alignment and support with US strategic goals.
Now, interested buyers like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Bhutan and any other nation could be caught in the contest of AI supremacy between the US and China. Any country not aligning with the US geo-political strategies or leaning towards China will not be a part of the AI chip trade. The same will be the case with other manufacturers like Microsoft. However, this is more evident for Nvidia because the company controls 90% of AI chip sales in the world.
Klon Kitchen, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said, “Every administration has made it very clear that unless the Chinese government changes its posture and the way it operates on the global stage, technology competition between the U.S. and China will continue.” He further added, “Companies like Nvidia should anticipate a tightening of the screws.”
