Beijing is putting pressure on big technology companies like Alibaba and ByteDance about their orders for Nvidia’s H20 AI chips. This comes after the United States made an export deal during the Trump administration that limits sales of these chips in China.
Sources familiar with the situation say that Chinese regulators, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), have asked these companies to explain why they need Nvidia’s H20 chips instead of using chips made in China.
Some companies, which were the main buyers of Nvidia’s H20 chips before new sales restrictions, are now thinking about ordering fewer chips because of the increased government attention.
One Chinese data center operator said that buying Nvidia’s H20 chips is “not banned but has become politically sensitive” in China.
Alibaba, ByteDance, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have not yet given any official comments on this matter.
