Nvidia Reportedly Asks Cloud Partners to Cap Chinese Business at 49%
The Financial Times reports a verbal requirement for new contracts that Nvidia has neither confirmed nor denied.
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Nvidia has told its data centre and cloud partners that new contracts must send at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, the Financial Times reported, according to The Next Web. The report is unconfirmed: Nvidia neither confirmed nor denied it.
Photo: This_is_Engineering / Pixabay
The report at a glance
| What | Reported verbal rule for Nvidia cloud partners |
| Threshold | At least 51% of services to non-Chinese customers |
| Scope | New contracts only; existing deals untouched |
| Sourcing | FT, citing five people familiar, via The Next Web |
| Nvidia | Neither confirmed nor denied |
| Status | Unconfirmed |
The reported restriction remains unconfirmed by Nvidia. According to TNW’s account of the FT reporting, the company conveyed the requirement verbally through its sales force and regional teams, rather than issuing written instructions. Nvidia neither confirmed nor denied the move when approached by AFP, TNW said.
For readers following access to AI computing, the significance lies in the overseas cloud route: TNW reports that many Chinese AI developers rent computing capacity outside China to train their systems. The reported requirement would add another obstacle for those developers, according to TNW.
What the reported requirement covers
The FT’s reporting, as relayed by TNW, cited five people familiar with the matter who said the requirement applies only to new contracts. Existing agreements would remain untouched, making the distinction between new and existing business central to the reported change.
TNW also reported that Nvidia had not previously imposed such a restriction. Its account describes a new condition communicated through Nvidia’s commercial organisation, not a written directive or an announced US government requirement. The reported instruction concerns the customer mix of cloud services, with a majority reserved for non-Chinese companies.
TNW’s account does not specify how providers would measure compliance, what enforcement would involve or whether penalties would apply. It also does not identify affected cloud providers. Those unanswered questions limit what can be concluded about the practical operation of the reported requirement.
Nvidia responds without confirming the report
When AFP sought a response, Nvidia neither confirmed nor denied the reported move, according to TNW. Instead, the company offered a broader statement about the international role of US-built AI infrastructure and the policy environment surrounding cloud providers.
"America cannot win the AI race unless America's AI infrastructure wins worldwide," Nvidia said in the statement reported by TNW. The company argued that US policy encourages cloud providers to build their services on American technology, according to TNW.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she was not aware of the FT report, according to TNW. She said Beijing hoped all parties would provide a "fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment" for companies from every country, TNW reported.
Why overseas computing access matters
The backdrop is a longer effort to restrict Chinese access to advanced US computing technology. According to TNW, the United States has limited sales of Nvidia’s most advanced chips to China since 2022, while Washington has also sought to close the overseas cloud route.
TNW separately reported that several senior employees of server maker Super Micro were charged earlier this year with smuggling around $2.5 billion worth of Nvidia AI servers into China.
Beijing has also restricted its own market. According to TNW, China banned foreign AI chips from state-funded data centres a year ago to support domestic suppliers. That measure concerns chips used in those facilities, distinct from the overseas cloud-service requirement now attributed to Nvidia.
For cloud customers and AI developers, the immediate takeaway is therefore narrower than a confirmed change in access: TNW describes a prospective restriction on new contracts, sourced to the FT, with existing agreements unaffected. Nvidia’s refusal to confirm or deny it leaves the reported verbal requirement unresolved publicly.
What to watch
- Confirmation. Whether Nvidia, or any cloud partner, confirms the requirement on the record.
- Enforcement. How compliance would be measured, which no report has detailed.
- Affected providers. Which cloud partners, if any, change their contracts.
- Policy response. Further reaction from Washington or Beijing.
More coverage is on our Artificial Intelligence hub.
How we reported this
This article relies on The Next Web's account of Financial Times reporting, which cites five unnamed people. DailyMech did not review the FT article and could not independently confirm the requirement. Details that neither outlet reported, such as named providers or penalties, are left out.
Published and fact-checked November 3, 2026.
Sources
- The Next Web, "Nvidia tells cloud partners to cap Chinese business at 49%, FT reports," Nov. 3, 2026: https://thenextweb.com/news/nvidia-cloud-partners-cap-china-business
DailyMech used AI tools to help research and draft this article; it was fact-checked by our editors.