Investing.com-- China’s biggest internet stocks weakened on Wednesday, leading losses across broader Asian tech after AI darling Nvidia flagged a steep impairment cost from stricter U.S. export controls.
China’s BAT trio- Baidu Inc (HK:9888) (NASDAQ:BIDU), Alibaba (HK:9988) (NYSE:BABA), and Tencent (HK:0700)- fell between 2.9% to 5% in Hong Kong trade, while smaller players such as Weibo Corp (HK:9898) (NASDAQ:WB) and JD.com (HK:9618) fell 2% and 6.2%, respectively.
A lack of access to Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) chips could stymie efforts by major Chinese companies to develop advanced artificial intelligence technology and remain competitive in the industry.
China’s BAT trio, along with social media giant Bytedance, are at the forefront of the country’s AI development, and largely use Nvidia hardware. Recent reports showed Chinese firms had ordered at least $16 billion worth of Nvidia’s H20 chip in the first quarter of 2025.
Chinese AI development came into renewed focus with the release of DeepSeek earlier in 2025. DeepSeek had also revealed it was using Nvidia hardware.
Nvidia’s major Asian suppliers also clocked losses. Contract chipmaker TSMC (TW:2330) fell more than 2% in Taiwan trade, while electronics giant Hon Hai Precision Industry (TW:2317), also known as Foxconn, fell by a similar margin.
South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) fell more than 3%, while Japan’s Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) slid nearly 7%.
Losses in Asian stocks came tracking an over 6% decline in Nvidia’s shares in aftermarket trade, after the company said it will log a $5.5 billion charge on its April quarter results due to new U.S. restrictions on AI chip sales to China.
The move stands to potentially block Nvidia from selling in China, which is still a sizeable market for the chipmaker. Specifically, Nvidia will now have to seek U.S. government licenses to sell its H20 chip in China.
The H20 chip was specifically designed by Nvidia to be in line with Biden-era restrictions on chip exports to China, and was a major seller for the company in China.
But more restrictions on Nvidia could block future sales of the chip in China, allowing local rivals such as Huawei to gain more market share. Markets were on edge over such a scenario, especially as the U.S. and China became embroiled in a bitter trade war over the past week.