China Weighs Allowing ByteDance, Alibaba to Buy Nvidia Chips

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has requested information from major tech firms, including ByteDance and Alibaba, regarding their intentions to acquire Nvidia's RTX PRO 5500 chips. Sources familiar with the matter suggest this signals Beijing's potential willingness to permit certain domestic purchases amidst ongoing US export restrictions.

The ministry has reportedly informed some companies that the government intends to approve these chip purchases. Industry executives anticipate that the RTX PRO 5500, being a professional workstation graphics processing unit rather than a direct AI accelerator for data centers, may fall outside the scope of the most stringent US export controls.

These US controls are primarily focused on advanced semiconductors and AI chips that meet specific performance thresholds. The classification of the RTX PRO 5500 as a workstation-grade GPU could therefore allow it to navigate these restrictions more easily than chips designed for large-scale data center AI applications.

The ministry's actions align with China's broader strategy to boost self-sufficiency in the semiconductor industry. While no formal approval process for individual chip purchases has been established, the ministry plays a guiding role in technology procurement. Nvidia has stated that US firms continue to face both US export controls and Chinese import limitations.