"The market fears that after Huang's resignation, Nvidia will reduce sourcing from Chinese suppliers," said a fund manager in Shenzhen.
Jensen Huang, president and CEO of Nvidia, waits for a groundbreaking ceremony for an expansion of Coherent's manufacturing facility to begin on Jun 16, 2026, in Sherman, Texas. (Photo: AP/Jeffrey McWhorter)
Jensen Huang, president and CEO of Nvidia, waits for a groundbreaking ceremony for an expansion of Coherent's manufacturing facility to begin on Jun 16, 2026, in Sherman, Texas. (Photo: AP/Jeffrey McWhorter)
SHANGHAI: Investors dumped shares in Chinese AI models and hardware suppliers to the US on Friday (Nov 13), worried the resignation of Jensen Huang as Nvidia CEO could usher in an even deeper technological divide between the world's two biggest economies.
AI model stocks Z.AI and MiniMax Group fell sharply on worries of reduced access to advanced AI chips, while data centre suppliers Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink Technology, whose businesses are heavily reliant on US markets, slumped.
Local chip stocks gained as investors bet on tech self-reliance, leaving both the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index and the blue-chip CSI300 Index little changed by the lunch break.
"The market fears that after Huang's resignation, Nvidia will reduce sourcing from Chinese suppliers," said Wu Zhou, fund manager at Shenzhen Deyuan Investment.
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"The US will also likely tighten restrictions on China's access to advanced chips, including the renting of offshore cloud computing power."
Wu said such a prospect bodes ill for AI firms that desperately need computing power, but benefits homegrown AI chipmakers.
Shanghai-listed AI chipmaker Cambricon Technology rose 1.2 per cent and was on course to jump 22 per cent this week in its best showing in six months.
Domestic chipmaker Hygon Information Technology was poised to gain 7 per cent this week.
TIGHTER RESTRICTIONS
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stepped down on Thursday after revelations of extramarital affairs, including one involving a suspected Chinese spy, plunged the chipmaker into a crisis and sent shockwaves across the AI industry.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday there was growing consensus in Congress on limiting chip exports to China after the scandal.
Meanwhile, Chinese AI companies are trying to rent Nvidia-powered computing capacity outside China, worried that the development around Nvidia's Huang could spur Washington to tighten restrictions on their remote use of advanced processors.
"The biggest risk to China's AI industry is that the scandal leads to a tightening of US export controls on advanced chips and chip-making equipment, possibly by the end of this year," Gavekal Dragonomics said in a report.