Chinese technology companies have bought more than one million Nvidia gaming and workstation chips this year for AI workloads. The purchases come as China faces a shortage of dedicated AI processors, partly because of U.S. export restrictions that began four years ago.
China’s demand for AI computing power is estimated to exceed 5 million chips this year. Domestic supply is projected to reach 3.5 million.
To help meet demand, companies such as Alibaba and Tencent are buying products not designed for advanced AI, including Nvidia’s RTX Pro series. They are also leasing access to high-end Nvidia chips in overseas data centers.