US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo gave a clear message to NVIDIA: stop trying to get around US export laws with your GPU redesigns, or else. 

During the Reagan National Defense Forum this past weekend, she called out the tech company for exploiting loopholes. As explained by PCGamer, US chip sanctions affect manufacturers who deal in products from specific countries like China, so NVIDIA’s solution has been to release China-exclusive GPU models, but with slight changes.

China is a large market for chips, and NVIDIA is also at work on GPUs said to be efficient in working with AI. Because of this, Raimondo reportedly stressed that China “cannot get these chips, period. We’re going to deny them our most cutting-edge technology.”

She even went so far as to say: “If you redesign a chip around a particular cut line that enables them to do AI, I’m going to control it the very next day.”

The US’ fight for China’s right to have semiconductors

Bloomberg pointed out how Raimondo’s department is making an active play to stop China from catching up to US semiconductors. At the Defense Forum, she asked for more money to halt China’s efforts, and called on American companies to better adapt to the country’s rules on semiconductor exports. 

Those restrictions were set up in 2022, and was preceded by NVIDIA now being required by the US government to have an export license to sell its product in China. While the Commerce Department has tried to fight the tech company’s cat-and-mouse, Raimondo argued NVIDIA needs to be “eyes wide open” about national security. 

“This is the biggest threat we’ve ever had and we need to meet the moment,” she concluded.

Last month, Reuters reported that China had bought equipment that would allow them to make their own advanced semiconductors in spite of the export restrictions. While it doesn’t appear the country has officially revealed those products yet, things may be out of Raimondo’s hands at this point.