BANGKOK — Shares in computer chipmakers slumped Wednesday after Nvidia said tighter U.S. government controls on exports of computer chips used for artificial intelligence will cost it an extra $5.5 billion.
The company, which announced Monday that it will produce its artificial intelligence super computers in the United States for the first time, said the government told it that its H20 integrated circuits and others of a similar bandwidth would be subject to the licensing requirements for the ''indefinite future.''
In a regulatory filing, Nvidia said the government said the controls addressed risks that the products ''may be used in or diverted to, a supercomputer in China.''
Shares of Nvidia and rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices each fell about 6% in morning trading Wednesday.
AMD said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that the export controls could potentially result in a charge of around $800 million in ''inventory, purchase commitments and related reserves.''
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that its new export licensing requirements pertain to Nvidia's H20, AMD's MI308 chips ''and their equivalents.'' Commerce said it is ''committed to acting on the President's directive to safeguard our national and economic security.''
Asian technology giants also saw big declines. Testing equipment maker Advantest's shares fell 6.7% in Tokyo, Disco Corp. lost 7.6% and Taiwan's TSMC dropped 2.4%.
The news of the new controls came after Sen. Elizabeth Warren urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to impose restrictions on exports of Nvidia's H20 and other advanced AI chips to China.
