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Nvidia ties Southeast Asia Cloud Partner status to chip-location tracking

People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Nvidia now requires Southeast Asian customers seeking Nvidia Cloud Partner status to enroll in a program that tracks the locations of their AI chips, Techmeme reported Friday.

By AI reporterBenny Sato · WhatsNewPaper Desk
What's new
  1. Techmeme, CNA and 2 more are now reporting this
  2. New headline Was: “About 600,000 Nvidia H200 chips wait in Hong Kong, Reuters says”
  3. New headline Was: “EXCLUSIVE: Nvidia chips pile up in Hong Kong as China withholds import approval”
  4. Our desk filed its story

Wire reporting: (Reuters, via CNA)

Nvidia is requiring Southeast Asian customers that want Nvidia Cloud Partner status to enroll in a program that tracks the locations of their AI chips, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg, according to Techmeme on Friday1.

Techmeme attributed the report to Mackenzie Hawkins at Bloomberg and did not carry an on-the-record Nvidia comment1.

The same cluster of reports this week describes other limits on how Chinese firms get Nvidia compute. CNBC, citing four people, said Beijing-based Moonshot AI has discussed leasing Nvidia GPU capacity at European facilities, including Blackwell systems that U.S. rules effectively bar from import into China6. Moonshot, Nvidia and several governments did not respond to CNBC6.

Techmeme earlier this week summarized Financial Times reporting that Nvidia had verbally told cloud-compute clients to sell more than half of their services to non-Chinese companies9. CNBC said an Nvidia spokesperson, asked about those reports, said the United States cannot win the AI race unless American AI infrastructure wins worldwide6.

Separately, CNA and Colombia One, drawing on a Reuters exclusive, said about 600,000 Nvidia H200 chips are stored in Hong Kong awaiting mainland import approval2,3,4,5. Reuters' own page was not readable in this pass5. CNA said China has allowed some H200s in, with several major internet companies each obtaining about 10,000 in recent months, according to people familiar with the matter2.

CNA said an eight-card H200 server was offered for more than 6 million yuan, about $900,000, in mainland China by the end of October2. Colombia One said Washington authorized H200 sales to approved Chinese customers in December 2025 and set a case-by-case licensing policy in January 2026, while Beijing has imposed its own import constraints3.

Techmeme also summarized Bloomberg reporting that Chinese AI companies had ordered millions of RTX Pro 5500 chips but expected only a small share in the coming months7.

What remains unknown includes how many Southeast Asian buyers will accept the tracking condition, whether location data is shared with governments, and how the Hong Kong H200 inventory will be allocated if Beijing expands approvals1,2,3.

Sources

  1. TechmemeSources: Nvidia is requiring Southeast Asian customers seeking Nvidia Cloud Partner status to enroll in a program that tracks the locations of their AI chips (Mackenzie Hawkins/Bloomberg)
  2. (Reuters, via CNA)Nvidia chips pile up in Hong Kong as China withholds import approval
  3. Colombia One600,000 Nvidia Chips Pile Up in Hong Kong Awaiting China’s Import Approval
  4. TechmemeSources: about 600,000 of Nvidia's H200 chips are stored in Hong Kong awaiting shipment to mainland China, as Beijing withholds approval for large-scale imports (Reuters)
  5. ReutersEXCLUSIVE: Nvidia chips pile up in Hong Kong as China withholds import approval
  1. CNBCChinese AI lab Moonshot turned to Europe for Nvidia Blackwell access amid U.S. China curbs, sources tell CNBC
  2. TechmemeSources: Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and other Chinese AI companies ordered 6M Nvidia RTX Pro 5500 chips worth $70B, but expect only ~1% within four months (Bloomberg)
  3. TechmemeHow Nvidia uses soft power to influence customers and shape US chip policy; sources: OpenAI took no public stance on China chip exports to avoid angering Nvidia (The Information)
  4. TechmemeSources: Nvidia verbally told cloud compute clients to sell 51%+ of their services to non-Chinese companies, imposing new limits on China's access to AI chips (Financial Times)

Read the original at Techmeme ↗

How it’s being reported

4 sources

First reported by TechmemeTechmeme

Where they agree

  • Chinese access to Nvidia AI chips is constrained by U.S. export rules and, for H200s, by Chinese import policy.
  • Hong Kong is holding a large inventory of H200 chips pending mainland approval, according to Reuters pickups.

Side by side

Each outlet's article broken down by our newsroom, in our own words. To read what they wrote, use the button under each one.

TechmemeTechmeme

Sources: about 600,000 of Nvidia's H200 chips are stored in Hong Kong awaiting shipment to mainland China, as Beijing withholds approval for large-scale imports (Reuters)

The previously unreported size of the H200 inventory in Hong Kong.

Aggregates the Reuters exclusive on the Hong Kong H200 stockpile.

The previously unreported size of the H200 inventory in Hong Kong.

What it reports

  • Beijing is withholding approval for large-scale imports, Techmeme said, citing Reuters.
Read the original at Techmeme Read the full article at Techmeme

Same copy also at: Techmeme · Techmeme · Techmeme · Techmeme

Colombia OneColombia One

600,000 Nvidia Chips Pile Up in Hong Kong Awaiting China’s Import Approval

Scale of the Hong Kong inventory and why Beijing is slowing imports.

Recounts the Hong Kong H200 stockpile, limited mainland allocations, and dual U.S. and Chinese constraints on the chips.

Leaves out The Southeast Asia tracking-for-NCP rule.

Scale of the Hong Kong inventory and why Beijing is slowing imports.

What it reports

  • About 600,000 Nvidia H200 chips remain stored in Hong Kong pending mainland import approval.
  • The Trump administration authorized H200 sales to approved Chinese customers in December 2025, with a case-by-case licensing policy in January 2026.
  • Nvidia and major Chinese technology companies including Alibaba, ByteDance, DeepSeek and Tencent did not provide official comments.

Leaves out The Southeast Asia tracking-for-NCP rule.

Read the original at Colombia One Read the full article at Colombia One
CNBCCNBC

Chinese AI lab Moonshot turned to Europe for Nvidia Blackwell access amid U.S. China curbs, sources tell CNBC

Remote access to Nvidia GPUs outside China, including Europe.

Reports that Moonshot AI has discussed leasing Blackwell capacity from European neoclouds as U.S. controls bar the chips' import into China.

Leaves out The new Southeast Asia NCP tracking requirement.

Remote access to Nvidia GPUs outside China, including Europe.

What it reports

  • Four people said Moonshot has discussed renting Nvidia GPU capacity at European facilities this year.
  • Three people said the lab was looking at Blackwell systems that U.S. rules effectively bar from import into China.
  • An Nvidia spokesperson, asked about related cloud-customer reports, said America's AI infrastructure must win worldwide.

Leaves out The new Southeast Asia NCP tracking requirement.

Read the original at CNBC Read the full article at CNBC