As the "powerhouse" of global AI computing power, NVIDIA once dominated half of the Chinese market with its CUDA ecosystem and top-tier chip performance. From the GPU shortage during the Bitcoin mining boom to the H100 and H200 chips' monopoly in the era of AI's explosive growth, this American tech giant seemed to have never faced a real rival. However, with the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) publicly pointing out security issues with the H20 chip, and controversies such as "location verification" and "remote control" coming to light, NVIDIA's good days in the Chinese market may finally be over.

The AI industry had just begun to take off, and NVIDIA's H100 chips became the "hot commodity" globally due to their powerful performance. But a U.S. ban directly blocked them from the Chinese market. To protect this "profitable" segment, NVIDIA quickly launched "cut-down" versions like H800 and H20, attempting to bypass regulations by reducing computing power.

But it was unexpected that these "special edition" chips were quickly targeted, ultimately meeting a short-lived fate. Until this year, when the U.S. itself faced a bottleneck in its rare earth supply chain, Trump suddenly relaxed — lifting the ban on the H20 chip. As NVIDIA thought it could return to the Chinese market, a statement from the CAC gave it a fatal blow: the H20 chip had "serious security issues."

This time, the attitude of the Chinese market was extremely firm. Remember, NVIDIA's position in the Chinese AI chip market was once unparalleled. Whether it was for large model training of internet giants or computing power support in fields like autonomous driving and cloud computing, almost everything relied on its chips. Now, however, the word "security" has become the biggest barrier in front of NVIDIA.

The trigger came from the U.S. "Chip Security Act" introduced in May this year. The act requires chips exported by U.S. companies to include "location verification" and "remote control" modules. Industry experts in the U.S. have openly stated: "NVIDIA has already mastered these two functions perfectly." This means that if NVIDIA wants to export chips to China, it only needs to "conveniently" add these modules to fully meet the requirements of the U.S. government. The problem is, will these modules become "backdoors"?

Facing the Chinese authorities' inquiries, Huang Renxun responded casually: "There are no backdoors, and they won't be remotely controlled." But this "empty" explanation clearly couldn't convince the Chinese market. Even the People's Daily directly published an article questioning: "Without evidence, how can we believe you?" Trust can collapse in an instant.

Previously, foreign companies like Tesla and Apple had established localized data servers in China to enter the market, strictly complying with the "Data Security Law" and "Cybersecurity Law." What about NVIDIA? Media reports revealed that the H20 chips would default to uploading data to Singapore servers, allowing the U.S. Department of Commerce to access it at any time. Worse still, not only the H20, but even these high-end chips under regulation like H100 and H200 also had similar issues.

This inevitably makes one think of the "fast track to the U.S. listing" incident of a ride-hailing platform several years ago. At that time, the platform met the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by disclosing a large amount of data that should have been kept confidential, eventually paying a heavy price. Now, if Chinese companies use NVIDIA chips, and their data flows to the U.S. through "backdoors," the consequences would be unimaginable. After all, in the AI era, the core competitiveness is data, and data security is national security.

It's raining on a leaky roof. Just as NVIDIA was caught in the "security issue," Trump released another big move: imposing a 100% tariff on imported chips, targeting China directly. Knowing that the world's largest chip producers are Taiwan and mainland China, this policy not only caused the cost of NVIDIA's H20 chips to soar but also strengthened Chinese companies' determination to "de-Americanize."

More importantly, domestic AI chips are no longer "what they used to be." Whether it's Huawei's Ascend 910B, Cambricon's Sunway 370, or Hai Guang Information's Shen Suan 3, their performance has caught up with the H20, and some indicators have even surpassed it. More importantly, domestic large models have already completed adaptation to domestic chips.

Previously, companies chose NVIDIA because there was "no choice"; now, domestic chips not only meet computing power demands but also ensure data security. Who would want to take the risk of using "backdoor" foreign chips?

Therefore, some foreign media have stated: China is closing the door to NVIDIA.

At the root of it, it's not that the technology is inadequate, but rather it touched the "security red line." In today's era where data has become a core strategic resource, no enterprise can be above national law. If NVIDIA continues to avoid the "backdoor" issue and refuses to provide substantial security commitments, the outcome may be "goodbye to the Chinese market."

Certainly, this does not mean that the Chinese market wants to "isolate itself." On the contrary, we welcome foreign enterprises that truly respect local regulations and value data security. However, for those trying to control other countries' computing power and steal data through "technological hegemony," China will not compromise. After all, the competition for AI chips is never just a commercial competition; it's a contest for technological autonomy.

Author's statement: The work contains AI-generated content

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7536198849862435368/

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