Nvidia Denies China-bound LPUs Amid Export Controversy
Nvidia has denied reports that it plans to ship Groq-based Language Processing Units (LPUs) to China by the end of this year. The company stated that there is 'no China-specific LPU product in our roadmap' and contradicted previous statements made by its CEO, Jensen Huang.
The controversy began with a report from The Information, which cited two Nvidia employees claiming that the chip is a variant of the Groq 3 LPU announced at GTC in March. According to the sources, Nvidia rewrote the software for the accelerator so it can run alongside processors available in China, but this contradicts the original design intended for the Vera Rubin platform.
Nvidia's denial comes after its CEO Jensen Huang previously stated that a report about Nvidia preparing LPUs for China was 'totally false'. However, Thursday's statement from Nvidia is narrower in scope, focusing on current sales and a China-specific product. It remains unclear whether the standard LPU will be shipped to Chinese buyers.