Chinese officials have told the country’s largest tech firms including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. they can prepare orders for Nvidia Corp.’s H200 AI chips, suggesting Beijing is close to formally approving imports of components essential to running artificial intelligence.
Nvidia jumped over 2% on the news; Alibaba trimmed some losses after an initial decline of 2%.
Regulators have recently given preliminary approval to Alibaba, Tencent Holdings Ltd., and ByteDance Ltd. to advance to the next phase of procurement planning, according to informed sources. The companies are now authorized to negotiate specific details, including the required quantities, said the individuals, who requested anonymity due to the private nature of the discussions. As a condition for final approval, Beijing intends to encourage these firms to purchase a certain volume of domestic chips, though a precise quota has not yet been established.
These deliberations indicate that Beijing is proceeding with its strategy to authorize imports of the H200—a cutting-edge semiconductor that has become a focal point in delicate US-China trade discussions. This move underscores the government's commitment to supporting the requirements of major Chinese cloud computing giants, from Alibaba to Tencent, which are investing billions to construct the data centers essential for developing and running artificial intelligence services.
Such a development would represent a significant victory for Nvidia, which has been striving to re-engage with the world's biggest semiconductor market. CEO Jensen Huang has projected that the AI chip sector alone could yield $50 billion in revenue in the near future. During Nvidia's absence from the market, domestic competitors like Huawei Technologies Co. and Cambricon Technologies Corp. have expanded their presence and are preparing to ramp up production substantially.
Beijing's directive to its top technology companies contradicts recent media reports suggesting the government was impeding H200 shipments. Just last week, the Financial Times reported that suppliers of components for the chip had temporarily halted production. Nvidia's representatives declined to comment, while the Commerce Ministry did not respond to a faxed inquiry. Representatives for Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance also did not reply to requests for comment.
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