In another step aimed at stifling China’s technological advance, the US Department of Commerce has decided to restrict shipments of advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) designed by American companies NVIDIA and AMD to China. The US government says it is worried about potential military applications of these products.
GPUs are a type of integrated circuit used in graphics and video image generation, high-performance computing and the acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. NVIDIA and AMD, both based in California, are the 9th and 10th largest semiconductor companies in the world as ranked by revenue in 2021.
The stock prices of both companies dropped on the sanctions news, NVIDIA’s precipitously. After falling 12% intraday, NVIDIA’s shares closed down 7.7% on September 1. AMD closed down 3.0%. Both stocks fell further in after-hour
