Nvidia reportedly sets non-Chinese quota for new cloud GPU leases

Nvidia has told cloud partners worldwide that at least 51% of their services must go to non-Chinese firms, Tom's Hardware reported, citing the Financial Times. The instructions were delivered verbally through sales and regional teams and apply to new deals; existing agreements and leases remain unchanged. The restriction could constrain overseas compute rentals used by Chinese AI companies. Southeast Asian data centers have relied heavily on those customers, and providers unable to attract enough non-Chinese business could have to reduce supply. Nvidia has neither confirmed nor denied the rule. Current U.S. law does not give regulators broad authority over overseas cloud access; legislation extending export controls to that access has passed the House but not the Senate.