China bans foreign AI chips as Jensen Huang pivots strategy; Nvidia joins India tech alliance

The Chinese government has issued an official guidance which mandates that the new data centre projects which have received funds from the State will have to use domestic artificial intelligence chips instead of foreign AI chips. 

Written By Anubhav Mukherjee
Updated5 Nov 2025, 04:56 PM IST
Nvidia joined India Tech Startup Alliance as China banned foreign AI chips on 5 November 2025.
Nvidia joined India Tech Startup Alliance as China banned foreign AI chips on 5 November 2025.(An Rong Xu / Bloomberg)

The Chinese government has issued official guidance that mandates new data centre projects receiving state funds must use domestic artificial intelligence chips, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the development.

The foreign-made semiconductor chips currently being used in China include Nvidia's H20, B200, and H200 chips.

Also Read | Nvidia, Qualcomm, others join India's Deep Tech Alliance with $850 million boost

According to the agency report, the Chinese authorities have ordered data centres that are less than 30% complete to remove all foreign-made chips or cancel their plans to purchase them.

For some projects at an advanced stage, the decision to remove all foreign-made chips will be made on a case-by-case basis, the sources told the news agency.

President Trump, in an interview last week, said that the United States will let China “deal with Nvidia” but not in terms of the most advanced chips. According to the agency report, China's crackdown on foreign AI chips will cut Nvidia's hopes of gaining its Chinese market share.

According to the company data cited in the report, Nvidia's current market share of the Chinese AI chipmaking industry is zero, compared to theri 95% level in 2022.

While China's move is likely to help boost the sales of domestic semiconductor chips, it also increases the risk of the increasing gap between the US-China AI computing power as China seeks to go local.

Also Read | Trump officials torpedoed Nvidia’s push to export AI chips to China

Nvidia turns to India

Billionaire founder Jensen Huang-led Nvidia Corp. has joined the ‘India Deep Tech Alliance’, which comprises Indian and US-based investors funding deep tech startups in South Asian countries, reported the news agency Reuters on Wednesday, 5 November 2025.

The big tech firm has also secured more than $850 million in capital commitments to close a big funding gap, as the group of investors now add new members to the alliance.

Qualcomm Ventures, Activate AI, InfoEdge Ventures, Chirate Ventures and Kalaari Capital are the new investors who have joined the India Deep Tech Alliance.

Also Read | Amazon inks $38 billion deal with OpenAI for Nvidia chips

According to the agency report, the India Deep Tech Alliance was launched in September 2025 with a $1 billion initial commitment to help the company in sectors like space, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and robotics.

As part of the alliance, Nvidia will provide the startups with technical guidance, training and policy inputs to help the deep-tech startups adopt its artificial intelligence and computing tools.

Nvidia's move comes after the Indian government launched a $12 billion programme to assist in research and development in the country. The agency report also highlighted that India's deep-tech startup funding surged 78% to $1.6 billion last year, according to Nasscom data, an industry body.

Key Takeaways
  • China has issued an official guidance which mandates that the new data centre projects will have to use domestic AI chips.
  • China's move is likely to help boost the sales of domestic semiconductor chips.
  • Nvidia Corp. has joined the ‘India Deep Tech Alliance’, which comprises Indian and US-based investors funding deep tech startups in South Asian countries.
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