China has banned Nvidia GPUs — what this means for AI

The Chinese internet regulator has banned the country’s largest tech companies from purchasing Nvidia graphics processors, which are used for artificial intelligence work. Beijing is counting on its own capabilities, and Huawei, which has previously faced numerous U.S. sanctions, announced plans to release four new versions of its own AI chip.

This was reported by the Financial Times.

What they want to replace Nvidia with

As the publication notes, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) is requiring local companies, including ByteDance and Alibaba, to stop ordering and testing the RTX Pro 6000D — a chip from U.S. company Nvidia that was specifically designed for China.

Chinese companies had begun testing this product with Nvidia’s server suppliers and were planning to order tens of thousands of chips. However, after receiving the administration’s directive, the companies were forced to ask their suppliers to halt operations, sources told the FT.

China has concluded that its artificial intelligence processors have reached a level comparable to, or even exceeding, that of Nvidia products permitted under export controls.

This conclusion was reached after Beijing’s regulatory authorities summoned domestic chipmakers such as Huawei and Cambricon, as well as Alibaba and search engine giant Baidu — which also produce their own semiconductors — to report on how their products compare with Nvidia’s China-specific chips.

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