Despite mounting trade restrictions, Nvidia (NVDA) is significantly expanding its presence in China, focusing on artificial intelligence chips for autonomous vehicles, Bloomberg reports. Both a Chinese government antitrust investigation and escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington complicate the semiconductor giant’s efforts.
According to Bloomberg, Nvidia has boosted its China workforce by a third, going from a 3,000-employee headcount at the start of the year to its current 4,000-employee headcount. Among those hires are a team dedicated to self-driving cars.
The expansion comes amid heightened Chinese regulatory scrutiny of U.S. technology firms, particularly those developing artificial intelligence systems. National security concerns have intensified as defense contractors and military suppliers increase their AI investments, adding to the economic tensions between the two nations.
Last week, the Commerce Department announced new restrictions on the sale of semiconductors to China. In turn, China announced that it would be curbing exports of the raw materials used to build those semiconductors to the U.S. Additionally, Nvidia itself is in the middle of an antitrust investigation by Chinese authorities regarding a chipmaker it acquired in 2020.
