US semiconductor manufacturer Intel has informed its Chinese customers that it will now need a license to sell some of its most advanced artificial intelligence processors, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
The announcement comes a day after Nvidia warned that it expects a $5.5 billion charge related to new restrictions imposed by Washington on exports of its AI processor designed for the Chinese market. Earlier in the day, Dutch chipmaking equipment giant ASML also expressed doubts about its outlook.
According to the business daily, Intel, now led by new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, told customers last week that its chips would require an export license to China if they reach or exceed a total DRam memory bandwidth of 1,400 gigabytes (GB) per second, an input-output bandwidth of 1,100 GB per second, or a combined total of 1,700 GB per second.
Intel's Gaudi series chips, like Nvidia's H20 chip, far exceed these thresholds, according to the Financial Times.
On Wednesday, the group's share price ended down more than 3% amid a tense environment for the entire semiconductor sector, which has been hurt by the uncertain evolution of US President Donald Trump's trade policy.
