Sept 17 (Reuters) - China's internet regulator has

ordered top technology firms to halt purchases of Nvidia ( NVDA )

artificial intelligence chips and cancel existing

orders as part of a broader push to cut reliance on U.S.

technology, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Shares of the US company were down 1% in premarket trading.

Successive U.S. administrations have restricted China's

access to advanced chips, prompting Beijing to press domestic

firms to turn away from American suppliers, hitting industry

leaders like Nvidia ( NVDA ).

The move comes days after China accused the company of

violating its anti-monopoly law, marking the latest flare-up in

the trade war with Washington.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) directed

companies including ByteDance and Alibaba ( BABA ) this week to

terminate their testing and orders of the RTX Pro 6000D, the

report said, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

The fresh ban is stronger than the earlier guidance from

regulators that focused on the H20, the previous version of

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) China-tailored AI chip, the report said.

Nvidia ( NVDA ), Alibaba ( BABA ) and Bytedance did not immediately respond to

Reuters requests for comment.

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) RTX6000D, its newest artificial intelligence chip

tailored for the Chinese market, has seen only lukewarm demand

with some major tech firms opting not to place order, Reuters

first reported earlier this week.

Several companies had indicated they would order tens of

thousands of the RTX Pro 6000D and had started testing and

verification work with Nvidia's ( NVDA ) server suppliers before telling

them to stop the work after receiving the CAC order, the FT

reported.