Baidu and Co are stepping up the pace
China’s internet giants place bulk order with Nvidia
8/10/2023 1:21 am
The Chinese groups Baidu, ByteDance, Tencent and Alibaba are going on an extensive shopping spree with the US chip manufacturer Nvidia. Each company has ordered processors worth a billion dollars each, according to a report.
According to a newspaper report, China’s internet giants are stepping up the pace in the development of generative systems for artificial intelligence. Baidu, TikTok owner ByteDance, Tencent and Alibaba have each placed orders worth $1 billion with US chipmaker Nvidia for around 100,000 A800 processors to be shipped later this year, the Financial Times reported at appeal to persons familiar with the matter.
The Chinese companies have also bought graphics processors worth four billion dollars, which are to be delivered by 2024. Baidu, ByteDance, Tencent and Alibaba initially did not respond to requests for comment. Nvidia declined to comment.
After the US restricted exports of high-performance chips to China over security concerns and Nvidia was banned from exporting its two high-performance artificial intelligence chips to the country, the chipmaker is now offering the A800 processor for China, which meets US government requirements .
On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden signed a decree banning certain US investments in sensitive technologies in China to protect national security. According to experts, this measure could increase tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The AI boom triggered by ChatGPT is increasing the demand for chips worldwide.
According to Nvidia, the possible new restrictions could have significant disadvantages. “Longer term, restrictions prohibiting the sale of our AI chips to China will result in a permanent loss of opportunity for US industry to compete and become the market leader in one of the largest markets in the world – impacting our future business and financial results are in place,” said Colette Kress, CFO of Nvidia.