NVIDIA tells data-center partners to cap Chinese customers at 49%

NVIDIA is reportedly enforcing a 49% cap on Chinese customers for data-center partners signing new contracts.

The guidance is delivered verbally rather than in writing, and it applies only to new contracts. That has prompted engineers to question whether it can be audited, with one calling it "export control run by vendor sales calls."

The move tightens the US–China split in AI infrastructure. It lands while the DOJ is separately examining NVIDIA's $12.9B Hugging Face deal.