China may allow companies including ByteDance and Alibaba to purchase Nvidia’s RTX PRO 5500 chips, according to The Information, cited by Reuters. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology reportedly asked companies to submit purchase plans and indicated that approvals could be granted.
The move could provide Chinese firms with access to Nvidia’s newer high-end professional chips while potentially avoiding current U.S. export restrictions. However, Reuters could not independently verify the report, and Nvidia, Alibaba, ByteDance, and Chinese officials did not provide substantive confirmation.
The development comes amid ongoing U.S.-China tensions over advanced AI chip exports and restrictions on China’s access to high-performance computing technology.
