Chinese Tech Giants Order $35 Billion in Nvidia Chips as Export Controls Tighten Supply
15 Sources
[1]
Illegal Nvidia Blackwell Ultra B300 GPUs found inside state-owned China Telecom's network -- Nvidia says chip smuggling 'a drop in the bucket,' insists smuggling remains a nonfactor
A security firm was able to spot 32 of the high-powered chips within the state-owned telecom company's network, but it can't pinpoint where they are physically located. Lava, an Israeli security firm, says that it has been able to identify 32 Nvidia Blackwell Ultra B300 chips within the network of
[2]
EXCLUSIVE: ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent place over $35 billion worth of Nvidia chip orders
Oct 20 (Reuters) - ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million of Nvidia's new RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards with a collective sticker price of over $35 billion, two people familiar with the matter said, in a rush for a less powerful but export-compliant chip amid US restrictions
[3]
China's tech giants drop $35 billion on export-compliant Nvidia RTX Pro 5500 workstation GPU orders to power AI ambitions, according to reports -- ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent order 3 million cards despite warnings that only 10% of orders are fulfillable
Chinese technology giants ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have reportedly spent over $35 billion on orders for more than 3 million Nvidia RTX Pro 5500 workstation GPUs. The huge order for the RTX Pro 5500, fully compliant with U.S. restrictions on exports of AI-capable GPUs to China, is reportedly
[4]
Nvidia blames "outdated" curbs as China orders $35bn of RTX PRO 5500s
The RTX PRO 5500 is an export-compliant workstation card, not a data-centre chip. Nvidia has reportedly warned partners it may deliver only 5% to 10% of what Chinese buyers asked for. ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million of Nvidia's RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards. Their
[5]
ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent order Nvidia chips worth $35 billion
Nvidia has told customers it cannot guarantee full delivery of the RTX PRO 5500 cards as demand exceeds planned production ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have placed orders for more than 3 million RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards from Nvidia $NVDA, carrying a combined list price above $35 billion,
[6]
ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent order NVIDIA RTX PRO 5500 chips worth over $35 billion
The three Chinese tech giants have requested more than 3 million export-compliant workstation GPUs, but NVIDIA promises a fraction of that demand. Chinese tech giants ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million NVIDIA RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards, according to a Reuters
[7]
Nvidia chip orders: ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent place over $35 billion worth of Nvidia chip orders
ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million of Nvidia's new RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards with a collective sticker price of over $35 billion, two people familiar with the matter said, in a rush for a less powerful but export-compliant chip amid US restrictions on trade with
[8]
Security Firm Discovers 32 NVIDIA B300 GPUs Operating Inside China Telecom, Showing U.S. Export Controls Aren't Curbing Top-Tier AI Hardware From Getting Out
NVIDIA's flagship Blackwell Ultra B300 has continued to find a place in Chinese infrastructure after an investigation by security firm Lava revealed that 32 of these high-performance units were operating inside the network of China Telecom, a state-owned telecommunications giant. The report
[9]
Nvidia's China Market Has Effectively Vanished: 'Every Restriction Also Gives Chinese Suppliers a Larger
U.S. restrictions on high-bandwidth memory and semiconductor manufacturing equipment are limiting China's ability to produce advanced AI chips, but experts warn the measures could also accelerate Beijing's efforts to replace American technology. HBM Shortage Creates Bottleneck For China's AI
[10]
Chinese Technology Giants Reject Huawei's Inferior AI Accelerators As They Show Affinity Towards RTX PRO 5500, Despite NVIDIA's Uncertainty In Fulfilling Orders
Huawei is slowly closing the market gap with NVIDIA when comparing China's AI accelerator shipments, but top Chinese technology firms like ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent have evidently shown that the top graphics chip manufacturer will be their number one choice, thanks to the GPU's raw
[11]
ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent Place Massive $35 Billion NVIDIA Order - NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)
NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) has received more than $35 billion in chip orders from Chinese technology giants ByteDance, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA) and Tencent Holdings Ltd. (OTC:TCEHY). Reuters reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter, that the companies ordered more
[12]
Nvidia has a $35 billion problem most companies would want
Nvidia (NVDA) spent years dealing with one of the stranger problems in technology: customers want more of its chips than it can make. China has just exacerbated the issue. ByteDance, Alibaba (BABA) and Tencent have placed orders for more than 3 million Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards, carrying
[13]
ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent place over US$35 billion worth of Nvidia chip orders: Reuters exclusive
ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered more than three million of Nvidia's new RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards with a collective sticker price of over US$35 billion, two people familiar with the matter said, in a rush for a less powerful but export-compliant chip amid U.S. restrictions on trade
[14]
Chinese tech giants are buying Nvidia gaming chips for AI. Here's why.
STORY: :: Why are Chinese tech giants buying billions of dollars of Nvidia gaming chips to repurpose for AI? "This is a story both about sustained AI demand coming out of the world's second largest economy, amid a computing shortage that is persistent and it shows no signs of easing significantly,
[15]
ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent place over $35 billion worth of Nvidia chip orders
Oct 20 (Reuters) - ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million of Nvidia's new RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards with a collective sticker price of over $35 billion, two people familiar with the matter said, in a rush for a less powerful but export-compliant chip amid US restrictions
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ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent ordered over 3 million Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 workstation GPUs worth $35 billion, but Nvidia warns it can fulfill only 5-10% of demand. Meanwhile, 32 illegal Nvidia Blackwell Ultra B300 chips surfaced in China Telecom's network, highlighting ongoing chip smuggling despite US export controls.
Chinese Tech Giants Place Massive Nvidia Chip Orders
ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent have collectively ordered more than 3 million Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards with a combined sticker price exceeding $35 billion
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. The cards are priced at approximately $11,400 each, making this one of the largest single hardware procurement efforts in the AI hardware landscape2
. These Chinese tech giants are turning to the RTX PRO 5500 as it remains among the most powerful Nvidia chips available to Chinese buyers under current US export controls2
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Source: Wccftech
Production Constraints Create Supply Shortages
Nvidia has informed customers and partners it cannot guarantee fulfillment of these orders because demand from Chinese technology companies far exceeds planned production
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. One source revealed that Nvidia told partners they might receive only 5% to 10% of the quantities requested2
. Another source indicated the company could produce no more than 3 million RTX PRO 5500 cards globally in 2027, while total orders from customers in China have exceeded 6 million2
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. Nvidia has advised customers to expect early samples in December, with commercial deliveries starting from the first quarter of 20274
.Workstation GPUs Become AI Infrastructure in China
The RTX PRO 5500 is a workstation GPU designed for powerful professional computers rather than the large data center clusters that use Nvidia's most advanced AI processors
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. The card features the same number of CUDA cores as Nvidia's flagship RTX 5090 GPU but with 84GB of GDDR7 memory attached, making it suitable for AI applications3
. Chinese companies are seeking to use the cards primarily for AI inference demands, which involves running trained models to generate chatbot responses2
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. AI inference generally requires less computing power than training large language models on massive datasets2
.US Export Controls Drive Demand for Compliant Chips
The surge in demand highlights how restrictions on AI-capable hardware have tightened computing-power supplies in the world's second-largest economy as Chinese companies race to develop cutting-edge AI models
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. Nvidia's Blackwell-based B300 data center chip is not allowed to be sold to Chinese buyers under US export controls, while exports of its Hopper-based H200 are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and are subject to licensing conditions2
. The RTX PRO 5500 performs similarly to the RTX 6000D, which Nvidia launched in mid-2025 as a reduced-capability product designed to meet US export restrictions2
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.Chip Smuggling Persists Despite Nvidia's Claims
Source: Wccftech
Lava, an Israeli security firm, identified 32 Nvidia Blackwell Ultra B300 chips within the network of China Telecom, a state-owned company that provides telecommunications services
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. These chips have already been barred from export by US export controls and can only be sold to whitelisted buyers who agree not to export them to sanctioned parties, including those in China1
. Lava identified them via Nvidia's own DCGM Exporter tool, software that can be installed by data center operators to monitor server health and performance1
. In 2025, it was reported that Chinese companies smuggled $1 billion worth of Nvidia AI chips into the country in three months1
.Related Stories
Nvidia Downplays Smuggling as Manufacturing Priorities Shift
An Nvidia spokesperson told Tom's Hardware that "governments, researchers, and media have all found insignificant diversion of controlled US products, less than one half of one percent in recent court cases—a drop in the bucket compared to the ocean of domestic compute China already has"
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. Nvidia's inability to promise full deliveries of the RTX PRO 5500 reflects both a surge in demand and its manufacturing priorities2
. Starting in 2027, Nvidia is expected to devote much of its capacity at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to the Rubin platform, its next platform for large data centers2
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.Geopolitical Tensions Push China Toward Domestic Alternatives
Source: ET
Washington's curbs have pushed Chinese firms toward domestic suppliers, while Beijing has encouraged the use of homegrown chips
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. Huawei, in particular, has gained market share, though Chinese chipmakers have generally struggled to match leading American products2
. Alibaba unveiled its Zhenwu V900 chip in September as part of this shift toward domestic alternatives4
. An Nvidia spokesperson told Reuters that Chinese producers of workstation chips and cards have experienced "unprecedented growth since 2022," when the curbs were first imposed2
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. "US firms continue to be restricted by a combination of outdated US export controls, which cover gaming products released nearly a half a decade ago, and China's own limit on US imports," the spokesperson said2
.References
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