U.S. Equity Markets Plunge as NVIDIA Tumbles 8.5% Amid New AI Chip Export Controls Targeting China

U.S. stock markets experienced significant downward pressure on April 17, 2025, with semiconductor giant NVIDIA Corporation leading the decline after the Biden administration announced stringent new export restrictions on advanced AI chips to China. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell sharply as investors reacted to the geopolitical tensions and potential revenue impacts on U.S. chipmakers. NVIDIA shares closed down 8.49% as analysts revised growth estimates for its data center business in China. The broader market sell-off reflects growing concerns about the economic implications of escalating U.S.-China trade restrictions in critical technology sectors.

Nvidia leads market declines

Leading the declines was Nvidia, down 8.49% to $102, after estimating a major loss in revenue. Namely, the company projected that Washington’s new restrictions on AI chip exports to China would cost it a total of $5.5 billion in expected revenue losses for the first quarter of 2025.

According to the company, the U.S. government informed it that it would need an export license to sell its H20 chips to China. These advanced AI chips are used to train AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Washington is concerned about the potential for China to use these chips to train its own AI models, like those of DeepSeek.

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