Amazon.com is joining Microsoft in supporting legislation that threatens to further limit NVIDIA’s ability to export to China, a rare split between the chip designer and two of its biggest customers.
The moves by Microsoft and Amazon to work against a company they are deeply intertwined with highlights the fierce nature of the artificial-intelligence race. The companies are all jockeying for favorable policy to stay ahead of competitors. Nvidia is fighting for access to the lucrative Chinese market despite security concerns.
The legislation would require chip firms to satisfy U.S. demand before sending products to China and other countries subject to arms embargoes. It is one of the first efforts by Congress to address chip exports, which are vital for the data centers that train AI models.
Microsoft publicly came out in favor of the legislation, known as the Gain AI Act. Officials at Amazon’s cloud unit have privately told Senate staffers they also support it, congressional aides and people familiar with the matter said. The policy would give tech firms including Microsoft and Amazon preferential access to chips at their data centers around the world.
The backing from two of the world’s biggest tech companies could boost the act despite opposition from some White House officials, Nvidia and other semiconductor companies, experts say. Peers Meta Platforms and Alphabet’s Google haven’t taken a position and neither has President Trump, the people said.
Anthropic, a top AI model developer that generally supports export restrictions and uses chips from Nvidia, Amazon and Google, is also supporting the policy, the people said.
Congress is weighing whether to include the act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which typically lands on the president’s desk by the end of the year. The policy has won support from key Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), but still likely needs to get the approval of Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R., S.C.) and top House Republicans to move forward.
Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang frequently talks to Trump about AI policy, and the company has ramped up its lobbying this year. It spent nearly $3.5 million in the first three quarters of the year, up from $640,000 in all of 2024, according to data provider OpenSecrets.
The Gain AI Act is testing Nvidia’s influence in Washington. It would include an exemption for tech companies and other trusted entities that would no longer need export licenses approved by the government when sending chips to regions such as the Middle East. That provision has won over Microsoft and Amazon, who have faced delays getting export licenses and would potentially gain a leg up on competitors.
Nvidia is the world’s dominant chip designer and controls roughly 80% of the market for AI processors. It has been rare for customers to publicly disagree with the company or take opposing policy positions.
“Usually the tension between hyperscalers and Nvidia is about the product itself and pricing,” said Ray Wang, lead semiconductor analyst at the Futurum Group, a research and advisory firm, referring to the rapidly growing tech firms. “Right now that tension is getting more complicated.”
Nvidia and other chip companies say the act would mark an unnecessary intervention in the semiconductor market that could open the door to more export restrictions. Tech executives have said they have enough chips in the U.S. and power is the AI industry’s main bottleneck.
Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Nvidia declined to comment. Last month, Gerry Petrella, general manager of U.S. public policy at Microsoft, said at a conference that the policy looked “really positive.”
White House AI czar David Sacks and other administration officials have told Sen. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), the act’s sponsor, and his staff that the policy would have a limited impact because the Commerce Department already has the power to oversee chip exports, some of the people said.
Supporters of the act say it is a proactive way to guard against future shortages and benefit U.S. tech companies. Banks has joined Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) in criticizing Nvidia’s exports to China. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Comments