A fifty-one percent quota on cloud computing
United States chipmaking giant Nvidia ordered its data centre partners to scale back commercial work with Chinese customers, on Tuesday, Nov 3, 2026. The reporting, which was also monitored by SquawkNews, cited five people with knowledge of the matter regarding the restrictions delivered to cloud computing clients.
Under the instructions, Nvidia told its cloud computing clients that at least 51% of their services must be sold to non-Chinese companies. The Standard, reporting alongside Reuters, noted that at least 51 percent must be allocated away from Chinese buyers under the directive. The fresh restriction was learned from Nvidia's sales and regional teams, and no written notice was issued by the company, The Standard reported.
The new rules only affect future contracts and will not touch existing agreements. For its part, that it could not immediately verify the report detailing the cloud restrictions.
Curbing indirect access to high-end hardware
This matters because the reported directive poses a new threat to the artificial intelligence development of mainland China, where more and more tech firms rent cloud computing power overseas to access high-end United States chips indirectly. By requiring partner data centres to allocate the vast majority of their capacity to non-Chinese buyers, the measure seeks to restrict Chinese developers from utilizing advanced American computing hardware housed in third-party server farms.
The commercial limits surface as China and the United States are locked in an intensifying race for dominance in the fast-moving artificial intelligence sector. Over recent months, the two countries have repeatedly traded accusations of stealing artificial intelligence technologies and jeopardising security.
American infrastructure in the artificial intelligence race
Nvidia is currently the world's most valuable company thanks to the global drive to build data centres packed with specialist computer chips and other hardware that runs artificial intelligence systems.
Nvidia neither confirmed nor denied the Financial Times report when approached by AFP, but the company defended its commercial and technological role in a formal corporate statement. In that statement, Nvidia said that data centres and clouds built on American chips are the foundation that American model and application makers need to compete worldwide, according to AFP.
Long-standing United States policy encourages every cloud to build on American infrastructure and to win business everywhere they can, the Nvidia statement said. Nvidia warned that America cannot win the artificial intelligence race unless America's artificial intelligence infrastructure wins worldwide, emphasizing that if the world's clouds rely on foreign-made chips, the model and application layers will be foreign-built as well, AFP reported.
Beijing urges a non-discriminatory environment
Asked about the report during a press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she was not aware of it.
Speaking as a representative of Beijing, Mao addressed the broader commercial situation by highlighting official expectations for international trade. As a matter of principle, we consistently hope that all parties can provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for companies from all countries, including Chinese companies, Mao said.
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Analysis first published in The Zevin Intelligence Journal on 3 November 2026. Published on Aizevin Ecosystem by Rachel, CEO Office.