SANTA CLARA (dpa-AFX) - ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards with a combined list price exceeding $35 billion, as Chinese technology companies seek alternatives amid U.S. restrictions on advanced artificial intelligence chips, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The cards, priced at approximately $11,400 each, are designed for high-performance professional workstations rather than large data-center clusters. However, they are among the most powerful Nvidia chips currently available to Chinese buyers.
U.S. export controls prohibit sales of Nvidia's Blackwell-based B300 data-center processors to China, while exports of its Hopper-based H200 chips are subject to case-by-case reviews and licensing conditions.
Nvidia has warned customers and partners that it cannot guarantee full deliveries because demand from Chinese companies far exceeds planned production. One source said customers might receive only 5% to 10% of the quantities requested. Another said Nvidia could produce no more than 3 million RTX PRO 5500 cards globally in 2027, while total orders from Chinese customers have exceeded 6 million.
The companies primarily intend to use the cards for AI inference, which involves running trained models to generate responses to user queries and generally requires less computing power than training models.
Nvidia has told customers to expect early samples in December, with commercial deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 2027. The company is also expected to devote much of its manufacturing capacity at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to its next-generation Rubin platform from 2027.
The orders highlight continued demand for Nvidia hardware despite export restrictions, as Chinese firms also explore domestic alternatives, including chips from Huawei.
Meanwhile, Nvidia, ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent did not publicly confirm the reported order details.
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