United States Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has criticized Nvidia Corp., the largest producer of artificial intelligence ( AI ) chips in the world, for its plans to introduce downgraded products for China in an effort to circumvent US chip export restrictions.  ,
Raimondo told an audience at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California on December 2 that” China wakes up trying to figure out how to accomplish an end run around our trade settings… which means every second of every day, we have to wake up tightening those settings and being more severe about police with our friends.”
She warned Nvidia, which had attempted to deliver the A800 and H800 chips to China after the US outlawed the export of the faster A100and H100 chips in October 2022, that she would take control of a device the very next day if it was redesigned to have an AI-enabled cut line.  ,
She claimed that in order to improve the enforcement of the US’s device export controls, her division needs additional resources in addition to the latest US$ 200 million budget. China is” the biggest risk we’ve always had,” she emphasized, while” China is no our friend.”
State advertising in China criticized Raimondo for her remarks. They claimed that the US’s desire to do business with China and its perception of the nation as a menace rather than ally or companion are incompatible.
According to a Beijing-based columnist using the pen name” Haishangke” in an article published on Monday, Raimondo stated at the Reagan National Defense Forum that the US wants to further develop business relations with China while also stressing that China is not the United States ‘ friend. ” In order to get the US Congress to give her a larger budget, she promoted the device trade controls against China.”
She” confirmed the creation of a China-US working group on the lieutenant governmental level and agreed to allow business members to participate in it when Raimondo visited China in August.” Is n’t there a close trade relationship between the two nations? Says Haishangke. Why does n’t China support the US? Is China the US’s foe or possible foe?
He claims that the US has never given much thought to the errors it has made in Sino-US trade. ” It has shifted its commitments to China but has not proposed any sensible measures to improve the diplomatic relations between the two countries.”
He claims that the US is concerned as China approaches it in terms of overall regional power, including economy. According to him, Beijing will keep expanding its AI businesses until they are sufficiently large one time for the US to no longer be able to resist.
Do business with everyone, please.
The US loosened trade restrictions in October 2022 to forbid the sale of Nvidia’s A100 and H100 cards to China. In order to satisfy the demand from China, Nvidia next unveiled the A800 and H800 cards.  ,
Chinese internet tycoons Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and TikTok owner ByteDance reportedly ordered 100,000 A800 processors and other graphics processing units ( GPUs ) from Nvidia for US$ 5 billion in August of this year.
However, due to the US’s stricter import restrictions on October 17, Nvidia was unable to continue shipping its A800, H800s, L40S, and RTX 4090 chips to China. For China’s marketplaces, the corporation attempted to introduce the H20 cards, a slower version of H100, but it later postponed the release until the first third of 2024.
At an event in New York, Nvidia’s Chief Executive Jensen Huang stated to the media,” We’re a company that was built for business, so we try to do business with everyone we can.” ” On the other hand, our federal profitability and safety are important.
Huang claimed that the Biden administration’s attempt to cut off China from the US chip offer was a crucial one for the safety of the United States.  ,
A” complete freedom of the supply chain is not really useful factor for a decade or two,” he continued.
He claimed that although China does not have access to the most cutting-edge Nvidia chips, the nation can also find a way to acquire it or find home chipmakers, such as Huawei Technologies, to match it.
collaborate with friends
At the Reagan National Defense Forum on Saturday, Raimondo reminded a crowd that it’s critical to safeguard the country ‘ armed forces’ national security.
I am aware that some of the CEOs of device companies in this crowd were irritated with me when I said that because you were losing money. Because of the way living is, protecting our national safety is more important than making quick money, she said.
” Republic benefits your firms.” Legislation is good for your businesses both locally and globally, she said.
She stated that the US will utilize its import restrictions on chips in collaboration with its supporters, including Japan, the Netherlands, and Europe.
The China Society for World Trade Organization Studies ‘ vice president, Huo Jianguo, stated that it is difficult for the US to persuade other nations to impose its device restrictions on China. He claimed that in order to implement its chip export controls, the US will have to pay higher prices.  ,
According to Zhou Mi, a scientist at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce,” the ongoing conflict between US federal agencies and businesses demonstrates that unnatural trade controls are against the regulations of the business.”
According to Zhou,” US high tech firms are well aware that losing the chance to expand their businesses in China will hurt their profits and future growth, and that their technological progress may be hampered by the United States ‘ self-imposed restrictions.”
Due to the high demand for its items worldwide, Nvidia has not yet experienced any negative effects. The company’s profit increased by 206 % year over year in the quarter ending October 29, and its gross income rose to US$ 9.24 billion from US$ 680 million.
Read: China will use localized chips to satisfy AI market demand.
At , @jeffpao3 is Jeff Pao’s Twitter account.