Nvidia reportedly tells cloud partners to keep at least 51% of new contracts non-Chinese; company neither confirms nor denies, stressing that 'America's AI infrastructure must win worldwide'

A ratio for new contracts, delivered without paperwork

According to the FT, which cited five people familiar with the matter, the condition applies to new contracts and leaves existing agreements untouched. Nvidia is said to have communicated it verbally through its sales force and regional teams rather than in writing, and this is described as the first time the company has imposed such a restriction on partners. The reports do not say whether the '51% non-Chinese' threshold is measured by revenue, capacity or contract count, or what happens on a breach.

Nvidia's statement did not address the report's substance. It said that 'datacenters and clouds built on American chips are the foundation that American model and application makers need to compete worldwide,' adding that 'longstanding U.S. policy encourages every cloud to build on American infrastructure and to win business everywhere they can.' The wording avoids a denial while folding the measure into US industrial policy.

A corporate line drawn where export controls stop

US chip controls on China have focused on exports of advanced chips and on transshipment through third countries, while the renting of compute to Chinese firms by overseas cloud providers has been flagged repeatedly by regulators without being codified. Earlier this year Super Micro employees were charged with smuggling about $2.5 billion of Nvidia AI servers into China, and an investigation into Megaspeed continues in Singapore. A cap on partners' customer mix reads as an attempt to narrow that channel through contract terms.

Beijing banned foreign AI chips from state-funded data centres a year ago, so Nvidia's position inside China had already shrunk. The new condition therefore bites less on mainland sales than on Chinese firms' use of third-country clouds in Southeast Asia or the Gulf. In Taiwan's legislature on 2 November, DPP lawmakers proposed amendments widening export controls on chipmaking equipment and materials to China, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs voiced support.

Beijing's reserved reply and what remains unknown

At the 3 November regular briefing, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told AFP she was 'not familiar with the specifics' and that 'all parties should engage in cooperation based on the principles of fairness, transparency and non-discrimination.' In the same briefing, speaking of the World Internet Conference, she said China opposes 'erecting digital iron curtains.' It is a formulaic reply that avoids escalation while framing the US measure as discriminatory. The questions ahead are whether Nvidia puts the condition in writing, whether the Commerce Department pursues know-your-customer rules for clouds, and how partner neoclouds disclose their contract mix.