China May Ease Stance on Nvidia Chip Purchases, Report Says
China may be preparing to loosen its stance on Nvidia purchases, according to an unverified report from The Information. Citing two people familiar with the matter, the report said Beijing has signalled it could allow domestic companies, including ByteDance and Alibaba, to buy Nvidia's RTX Pro 5500 chip. This high-end part is designed for professional workstation computing rather than Nvidia's top-tier AI accelerators.
The report said China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently asked a group of companies, including ByteDance and Alibaba, to detail their plans for purchasing the chip, covering how many units they intended to buy and what they would be used for. The ministry reportedly told some of the companies it intends to approve the purchases once that information is submitted.
Some industry executives believe the RTX Pro 5500 may fall outside the scope of existing US export restrictions, potentially offering a route for Chinese firms to access more advanced Nvidia hardware without breaching current controls. However, an Nvidia spokesperson noted that US companies continue to operate under a combination of constraints: outdated US export controls and separate restrictions China itself places on imports of US technology.