July 13 (Reuters) – Nvidia has more than halved the number of Asian customers authorized to buy its AI chips after creating a new “white list” of companies that have passed tougher compliance checks aimed at preventing the products from reaching China, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
Over the last few months, the chipmaker has intensified due diligence in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, the report added, citing three people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours.
Under a renewed review, over half of Nvidia’s previous customers, especially neo-cloud providers, were excluded, the report said, adding that companies that failed the initial review could make changes and reapply.
The U.S. Commerce Department issued guidance in May aimed at curbing advanced AI chips from reaching overseas subsidiaries of Chinese companies, highlighting concerns that Nvidia’s cutting-edge Blackwell processors may have been exported to Chinese-linked entities in countries such as Malaysia despite U.S. restrictions.
(Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
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