In the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, chip designer NVIDIA Corporation has declared that it is suspending sales to the Russian Federation. A spokeswoman for NVIDIA confirmed the decision to PCMag but did not elaborate on the reasons for it.
With this news, NVIDIA joins Advanced Micro Devices, Inc (AMD) and Intel Corporation as the latest semiconductor companies to declare the suspension of their products in Russia. It is a significant step forward for the country, as customers will now be unable to simply obtain numerous computing items used for a range of purposes such as productivity and enjoyment.
A single rumour from the Russian press made its way to the news-sphere before both AMD and Intel formally acknowledged that they would cease product shipments to Russia. According to sources in the country’s information technology market, Intel and AMD had orally told Russian enterprises that shipments were being halted, and an Intel spokesman responded to concerns by saying that the company was following all applicable US regulations.
While a source claimed that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) had similarly alerted Russian developers of a possible suspension (TSMC later indicated that it would likewise comply with US rules), no comparable concerns surfaced for NVIDIA.
Many concerns remain unanswered in the announcement, particularly about the motivation behind the decision to halt sales in Russia. On official channels, both Intel and NVIDIA announced their intention to halt shipments to Russia, with Intel criticising the Russian incursion and AMD declaring that it has chosen to comply with US legislation.
These rules, which were introduced last week, make the whole Russian Federation a target of American sanctions and restrict sales of products made in the United States or using American-origin technology to the country.
Consumer electronics major Apple Inc and software producer Microsoft Corporation, both of whom have decried Russian aggression in the region, have joined the chip companies. Mr Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and vice chairman, announced the decision in a blog post published yesterday.
Mr Smith added in the post that his company was cooperating with governments all around the world and that the cyberspatial integrity of Ukraine was a top concern. Mr Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, took to Twitter to express his support for the Ukrainian people, and the company became one of the first technology companies to halt product sales in Russia.
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