NVIDIA reduced its approved customer list in Asia by more than 50%. The company implemented a new whitelist system across Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan to prevent the illegal re-export of high-end semiconductors to China.
Stricter compliance checks respond to U.S. government pressure to close export control loopholes. NVIDIA staff now conduct physical site visits to data centers and interview end-users to verify the legitimacy of operations.
More than half of previous buyers failed initial evaluations. Smaller neo-cloud providers represent the majority of those removed from the list. This shift highlights the operational challenges of navigating U.S. technology sanctions and may impact NVIDIA's short-term regional sales.