Chinese AI companies are trying to rent ​Nvidia-powered computing capacity outside China, worried that the scandal involving the US chipmaker’s CEO Jensen Huang could spur Washington to tighten restrictions on their remote use of ‌advanced processors, three people familiar with the matter said.

Seeking to protect US dominance of the critical sector, Washington restricts exports to China of Nvidia’s (NVDA.O), most advanced AI chips. But Chinese companies can access such processors remotely by renting computing power at data centres overseas.

The current move to secure rented capacity points to growing concern among Chinese technology companies that the gap in US export controls may now be closed.