to leave a comment.
Nvidia gets chance to return to Chinese AI market after a year
The Chinese government has informed domestic companies such as ByteDance and Alibaba that it plans to approve the purchase of Nvidia's new artificial intelligence (AI) chip 'RTX Pro 5500', IT media outlet The Information reported on the 27th (local time), citing two sources.
According to the report, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology requested these companies to report their desired quantities and uses for the RTX Pro 5500 ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States on the 24th. Some companies were also informed that the government plans to approve the purchase.
The timing of the approval and the allowed quantities are unclear.
The RTX Pro 5500 is a workstation chip for engineers and designers, but it has strengths in running AI models, so Chinese companies plan to use it by installing it in servers.
The selling price in China is 85,000 to 90,000 yuan (approximately 17 million to 18 million won).
ByteDance is considering an order of about 1 million units, sources said.
Nvidia plans to ship approximately 500,000 units per quarter to China starting in late December, and has informed customers that orders must be placed by September 30 to secure supply, The Information reported.
Nvidia's business in China has been blocked by both the US and Chinese governments.
The US government has prevented the sale of Nvidia's high-performance AI chips to China to curb the development of China's AI industry, only allowing the sale of older chips like the H200.
The Chinese government has also effectively banned its companies from purchasing Nvidia's high-performance chips to support domestic chip suppliers and out of concern for data leakage. It has also taken a stricter stance on Nvidia chips specifically designed for China.
The reason Chinese authorities are reconsidering restrictions on Nvidia chip purchases is that chip supply cannot keep up with the rapid spread of AI services. Eric Xu (徐直軍), rotating chairman of Huawei, which produces AI chips in China, stated on the 18th that "we have no plans to seriously enter overseas markets because we don't have the production capacity to even meet domestic demand."
Currently, the US government has not publicly stated whether it will exclude this chip from export controls, but some industry executives believe it will be, The Information reported.
If the purchase of new chips is approved, Nvidia will regain momentum in the Chinese AI market after about a year and get an opportunity to retain Chinese developers on its platform.
CEO Jensen Huang previously stated that Nvidia's market share in high-performance AI chips in China fell from 95% to 0% due to US export controls.
Newsletter
Get key news delivered to your email every morning
to leave a comment.