Nvidia halves Asia AI chip customer list after tougher China checks

Nvidia has cut by more than half the number of Asian customers allowed to buy its AI chips after creating a new white list of companies that passed stricter compliance checks, the Financial Times reported. The review was said to focus on Singapore, Malaysia and Japan and to be aimed at stopping advanced processors from being diverted to China through intermediaries or overseas affiliates. The report said more than half of Nvidia's previous customers, particularly neo-cloud providers, were removed under the renewed screening, though companies that failed the first review can make changes and reapply. The move comes after the U.S. Commerce Department (U.S. trade regulator) issued guidance in May designed to prevent advanced AI chips from reaching overseas subsidiaries of Chinese companies, amid concerns that Nvidia's Blackwell processors may have been exported to Chinese-linked entities in places including Malaysia despite U.S. restrictions. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report, and Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.