Beijing may approve some NVIDIA workstation chip purchases; Alibaba and ByteDance eye millions of units
What happened
On September 28, 2026, The Information reported that Beijing had asked Alibaba and ByteDance how many of Nvidia's new workstation chips they intend to buy and what for. ByteDance is weighing a purchase of roughly 1 million of the chips, mainly for AI model training. Nvidia plans to start shipping by the end of December, supplying China with 500,000 units per quarter, but how long approval takes and how many units get cleared are not yet clear, and the US has not publicly stated the chip's export-control status. On September 29, Ars Technica reported that China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is considering easing restrictions and has asked Alibaba and ByteDance to submit plans to buy Nvidia RTX Pro 5500 chips; ByteDance plans to order 1 million. Earlier reports did not disclose the chip model; later reporting identified it as the RTX Pro 5500. The reports also said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has become Trump's most influential adviser on AI issues, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump and Huang are fully aligned, though some experts worry Nvidia's commercial interests are shaping US AI policy toward China.
Written by AI from the coverage · updated 7 hours ago
Coverage
Follow the reports to see the story from different sides.
- Ars Technica · AIExperts worry about Nvidia's AI chip sales in China and influence over Trump
Ars Technica 报道称，中国工信部正考虑放宽限制，要求阿里巴巴和字节跳动提交购买 Nvidia RTX Pro 5500 芯片的计划，字节跳动计划订购 100 万颗。报道指出，Nvidia CEO 黄仁勋已成为特朗普在 AI 议题上最具影响力的顾问，财政部长 Scott Bessent 称特朗普与黄仁勋完全一致，但部分专家担忧 Nvidia 的商业利益正在影响美国对华 AI 政策。
- AI HOT (Curated Pool)PickBeijing may approve some NVIDIA workstation chip purchases; Alibaba and ByteDance eye millions of units
The Information reports Beijing has asked Alibaba and ByteDance about planned purchases of new NVIDIA workstation chips. ByteDance is evaluating buying around 1 million units for AI training. NVIDIA expects to start shipping by end of December and plans to supply 500,000 units per quarter to China. Approval timeline and quotas are unclear; the US hasn't disclosed the chip's export status.
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