Nvidia asserts: "We never prioritize foreign customers over American ones"; company claims that the GAIN AI Act addresses a non-existent issue

The U.S. Department of Commerce has introduced the GAIN AI Act of 2025, a legislation aimed at regulating the shipment of advanced AI GPUs to certain countries, prioritising access for domestic buyers. This bill was introduced as part of the defence policy package earlier this week.

The new rules set specific technical thresholds to classify a chip as 'advanced'. These benchmarks are stronger for memory bandwidth compared to the 2023 book from the Biden administration. Any GPU with a total processing performance (TPP) of 2,400 or higher, a performance density over 3.2 (TPP divided by die area), or bandwidth exceeding 1.4 TB/s (DRAM), 1.1 TB/s (interconnect), or 1.7 TB/s combined would be subject to export controls. Products exceeding a TPP of 4,800 would be outright barred from export to restricted countries.

Notable GPUs that exceed the TPP of 4,800 include Nvidia's H100 and B300, as well as AMD's Instinct MI308. If the bill is passed into law, these GPUs would be barred from export to restricted countries.

The new rules also require exporters to ensure that foreign buyers will not use the hardware to compete against American firms globally. Furthermore, exporters must certify that U.S. buyers were given the first opportunity to purchase.

Nvidia has claimed that H20 shipments to China do not interfere with the domestic supply of H100, H200, or Blackwell chips. However, the new rules apply to older AI GPUs like Nvidia's HGX H20 and L2 PCIe, assuming they are still in production.

In FY2024, China accounted for 28% of Nvidia's sales, and Singapore totaled 18% of the company's sales. According to Nvidia's Form 10-K, sales to American companies totaled 49.9% in FY2024, implying that the U.S. is and will continue to be Nvidia's largest market.

Nvidia states that the proposed bill would restrict competition worldwide in any industry that uses mainstream computing chips, potentially affecting American leadership and the U.S. economy. The company claims that no regulations are needed for the company to serve America. However, if not properly managed, the new rules could potentially favour foreign clients with better pricing or contract terms.

The new export rules are applicable to both AMD and Nvidia as exporters. The GAIN AI Act of 2025 could formalize limitations on transactions of older GPUs like the HGX H20, potentially affecting future shipments. The bill outlines these regulations as part of the U.S.'s efforts to maintain its technological edge in the AI field while safeguarding its economic and national security interests.

Nvidia asserts: "We never prioritize foreign customers over American ones"; company claims that the GAIN AI Act addresses a non-existent issue