Nvidia leans on OpenAI, think tanks to shape chip export rules

Nvidia's chip allocation has become a political lever, according to reporting from The Information: the company uses its position as sole supplier of the GPUs that train frontier models to steer customer behavior and shape US chip export policy, with OpenAI the most visible case.

OpenAI publicly backed strict China controls as recently as March 2025, when it told the administration it supported keeping China under "strict export controls." A federal framework the company proposed in June 2026 instead contained a single line calling to "strengthen export controls," without naming China. The Information reports that OpenAI has effectively stopped pushing Washington for limits on selling advanced chips to China, citing congressional aides and lobbyists.

The commercial context is unusually tight. Nvidia finalised a $30bn equity investment in OpenAI in February. In August, the company agreed to be the sole chip supplier at an Ohio data centre OpenAI will lease, and to guarantee up to $105bn for the first phase of the build.

Nvidia's reach extends past its biggest customer. Sales and regional teams have told cloud and data-center clients verbally, not in writing, that at least 51% of their services must go to non-Chinese customers, part of the response to tighter US rules and a July cut to the approved buyer list. The report cites a Singapore-based group that said it is "difficult to find enough non-Chinese clients outside the US" and that "if strictly implemented, it will definitely hurt business."

The soft-power push lands in Washington think tanks too. In 2023, Nvidia attempted to use its status as a major donor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies to sideline Greg Allen, then the director of the center's AI policy arm, because he advocated for stricter chip controls. The reporting says the campaign has cost the company credibility with members of Congress and administration officials who doubt its public claims about China's own chip capabilities.

Not every AI lab has fallen in line. Anthropic has backed several chip export bills aimed at China and left a tech trade group over that group's push to weaken the restrictions, a counterweight that keeps surfacing across our running chip-policy coverage.