Nvidia denies report it is rolling out China AI chip by year-end
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Nvidia says it has no China-specific products on its roadmap.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Nvidia denied reports that it plans to ship a China-specific language processing unit (LPU) by year-end, stating no such product is on its roadmap.
- The Information claimed Nvidia would start small-batch shipments of the AI chip tailored for China, but Nvidia called this incorrect.
- Nvidia's China AI chip business is complex, with limited sales approved for some firms and Huawei as its main local competitor, according to CEO Jensen Huang.
AI generated
SAN FRANCISCO – Nvidia on Aug 20 denied a report by American tech and business media outlet The Information that it plans to begin shipping a language processing unit (LPU) tailored for Chinese customers by year-end, saying it has no China-specific version of the product on its roadmap.
“The reporting in The Information on Nvidia’s LPU is incorrect. We have no LPU sales in the China market today, and no China-specific LPU product in our roadmap,” an Nvidia spokesperson said.
Reuters had reported in March that Nvidia was preparing a China-compatible version of AI chips, as it sought to compete in the fast-growing market for AI inference.
Earlier on Aug 20, The Information reported, citing two Nvidia employees, that the company planned to begin small-batch shipments of an artificial-intelligence chip designed for Chinese customers by the end of 2026 and that several customers had already placed orders.
According to the report, the chip was a version of Nvidia’s LPU, a processor developed using technology licensed from start-up Groq that works alongside graphics processing units (GPUs) to speed up AI chatbot responses.
The publication said the chip complied with US export-control rules, adding that Nvidia had modified software to allow the LPU to operate with processors available in China after its next-generation Vera Rubin AI system became unavailable to the market because of US restrictions.
Nvidia’s China business has been in flux. The United States in May approved sales of the company’s H200 AI chips to a limited group of Chinese firms, including Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance, though deliveries began only recently. Nvidia has also been marketing its Vera CPU to Chinese customers.
Chief executive Jensen Huang had said in May that Nvidia had “largely conceded” China’s AI chip market to Huawei Technologies, which has emerged as the company’s main domestic rival. REUTERS
