According to sources cited by the media, AMD's artificial intelligence (AI) chips specially customized for the Chinese market have not been approved by the US Department of Commerce. If the company wants to sell this chip to China, it will need to apply for an export license.
According to insiders, the performance of the chip designed by AMD is lower than that of the chips sold by the company outside of China, and its design is to comply with export restrictions in the United States. But the US Department of Commerce believes that this chip is still too strong, so AMD must obtain permission from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), a subsidiary of the US Department of Commerce, to sell it.
It is currently unclear whether AMD will apply for a license. It is reported that AMD's customized product for China is called MI309. Last December, AMD launched a new MI300 series of chips to challenge Nvidia in the AI chip market.
In October 2022, the US government introduced regulations restricting the export of the most advanced AI chips to China, requiring chip manufacturers to obtain permission from the Ministry of Commerce when exporting certain chips for advanced AI computing and supercomputing to China. Last October, the US government further tightened restrictions on the export of AI chips to China.
China is an important market for chip manufacturers, and the US government's ban has forced chip giants to seek alternative solutions.
According to media reports, Nvidia has launched three "special edition" AI chips for the Chinese market, namely H20, L20, and L2. According to analysis, H20 has the strongest performance among the three chips, but it is far lower than Nvidia's currently most powerful AI chip, H100.
Nvidia had previously warned that further restrictions on its chip exports to China by the United States could potentially cause American chip companies to permanently lose their leading position in one of the world's largest markets.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has previously responded
In response to the US restrictions on chip exports to China, Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting previously stated that the US has repeatedly politicized and securitized economic, trade and technological issues, abused export control measures, and restricted domestic enterprises from trade and investment in China. This is forcing enterprises to give up opportunities in the Chinese market and cooperation for mutual benefit, which will only disrupt the international economic and trade order, disrupt the stability of industrial and supply chains, and is not in line with the interests of all parties.