China AI startup stockpiled Nvidia chips before ban
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More news: Chinese AI startup 01.AI stockpiled 18-months worth of advanced Nvidia chips months before the US government slapped restrictions on exports, Bloomberg reports. Nvidia's graphics processing units, or GPUs, are considered the most powerful in the world for AI-development, and the US government has curbed exports to China amid national security concerns.
What they said: "We have stockpiled a lot of Nvidia chips," 01.AI founder and chief executive Kai-Fu Lee told Bloomberg Television. Lee has worked on AI for decades with experience at Apple, Microsoft and Google's China unit.
"The jury is out on whether China in 1.5 years can make equivalent or nearly as good chips," he said.
Nvidia to release new chips for China following US restrictions: Reuters
The news: US microconductor giant Nvidia plans to make specialised products for China's market after US regulators slapped export restrictions on its advanced AI chips, Reuters reports. The chips will include much of Nvidia's new AI features but will be less powerful to comply with the restrictions.
The numbers: Nvidia's stock price jumped 33% following the unconfirmed news, after falling to nearly five-month lows last week when the US governments expedited export restrictions on powerful semiconductors to China. The shift fuelled rumours of up to USD5 billion ($7.9 billion) in delivery cancellations to China, the world's biggest semiconductor market.
The context: NVidia had already released two modified chips for the China market to comply with previous export controls, but the new restrictions precluded them from sale to USA's biggest rival. The US government has cited national security concerns amid its measures to curb China's AI processing power.
