Nvidia stock falls 5% as the U.S. eyes AI chip export limits

The chipmaker’s stock was down less than 1% in pre-market trading, but had fallen by about 5% by midday. The drop occurred following a report that the U.S. could cap sales of advanced artificial intelligence chips from U.S.-based chipmakers to certain countries. Biden administration officials in recent weeks have discussed putting a ceiling on export licenses for advanced AI chips, including those from Nvidia and rival AMD $AMD (AMD), to countries in the Middle East, citing national security concerns, Bloomberg reported.

Earlier this year, U.S. officials started slowing down the issuing of licenses to Nvidia, AMD, and other U.S. chipmakers for shipping large-scale AI accelerators to the Middle East, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, Dell $DELL (DELL) plans to ship computer servers with Nvidia’s Blackwell AI chips to select customers starting next month, with general availability slated for the start of next year, Arthur Lewis, president of Dell’s infrastructure unit, told Bloomberg.

Dell’s rollout shows production of Nvidia’s highly-anticipated Blackwell chips is on track after reports of delays earlier this year.

Nvidia’s shares have experienced some turbulence in recent months. In August, the chipmaker’s shares fell about 13% in pre-market trading after a report that its Blackwell chips were delayed due to design flaws.

Still, Nvidia’s stock is up around 173% so far this year, and it remains the second-most valuable public company after Apple $AAPL (AAPL). The company’s shares climbed 2.4% and closed at a record $138.07 on Monday, beating its previous record close of $135.58 on June 18 — a week after it initiated a 10-for-1 stock split.

During Nvidia’s second-quarter earnings in August, CEO Jensen Huang said the company had shipped samples of Blackwell chips to customers during the period and that Blackwell’s production will ramp up in the fourth quarter into fiscal year 2026.

To “improve production yield,” Nvidia made a change to Blackwell’s GPU mask, the chipmaker said. However, “there were no functional changes necessary,” Huang said on a call with analysts.

Earlier this month, Nvidia’s stock rose after chief executive Jensen Huang said demand for Blackwell is “insane.”